.£ 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


THE  PETER  AND  ROSELL  HARVEY 
MEMORIAL  FUND 


659 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT   OF   AGRICULTURE. 

OFFICE  OF  EXPERIMENT  STATIONS— BULLETIN  NO.  145. 

A.   C.   TRUE,  Director. 


PREPARING  LAND  FOR  IRRIGATION  AND 
METHODS  OF  APPLYING  WATER, 


PREPARED  BY  THE  AGENTS  OF  IRRIGATION  INVESTIGATIONS. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE. 
1904. 


LIST  OF  PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE  OFFICE  OF  EXPERIMENT  STATIONS  ON 
IRRIGATION  AND  DRAINAGE. 

NOTE.— For  those  publications  to  which  a  price  is  affixed  application  should  be 
made  to  the  Superintendent  of  Documents,  Government  Printing  Office,  Washington, 
D.  0.,  the  officer  designated  by  law  to  sell  Government  publications.     Publications 
marked  with  an  asterisk  (*)  are  not  available  for  distribution. 
*Bul.    36.  Notes  on  Irrigation  in  Connecticut  and  New  Jersey.     By  C.  S.  Phelps  and 

E.  B.  Voorhees.     Pp.  64.     Price,  10  cents. 
Bui.    58.  Water  Rights  on  the  Missouri  River  and  its  Tributaries.     By  Elwood 

Mead.  Pp.  80.     Price,  10  cents. 

Bui.    60.  Abstract  of  Laws  for  Acquiring  Titles  to  Water  from  the  Missouri  River 
and  its  Tributaries,  with  the  Legal  Forms  in  Use.  •  Compiled  by  Elwood 
Mead.     Pp.  77.     Price,  10  cents. 
Bui.    70.  Water-Right  Problems  of  Bear  River.     By  Clarence  T.  Johnston  and 

Joseph  A.  Breckons.     Pp.  40.     Price,  15  cents. 
Bui.    73.  Irrigation  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  States.     By  J.  C.  Ulrich.    Pp.  64.    Price, 

10  cents. 

Bui.    81.  The  Use  of  Water  in  Irrigation  in  Wyoming.     By  B.  C.  Buffum.     Pp.  56. 

Price,  10  cents. 
*Bul.    86.  The  Use  of  Water  in  Irrigation.      Report  of  investigations  made  in  1899, 

under  the  supervision  of  Elwood  Mead,  expert  in  charge,  and  C.  T. 

Johnston,  assistant.     Pp.  2£>3.     Price,,  30  cents. 
Bui.    87.  Irrigation  in  New  Jersey.     By  Edward  B.  Voorhees.     Pp.  40.     Price,  5 

cents. 

*Bul.    90.  Irrigation  in  Hawaii.     By  Walter  Maxwell.     Pp.48.     Price,  10  cents. 
Bui.    92.  The  Reservoir  System  of  the  Cache  la  Poudre  Valley.     By  E.  S.  Nettleton. 

Pp.  48.     Price,  15  cents. 
Bui.    96.  Irrigation  Laws  of  the  Northwest  Territories  of  Canada  and  of  Wyoming, 

with  Discussions  by  J.   S.   Dennis,  Fred  Bond,  and  J.   M.  Wilson. 

Pp.  90.     Price,  10  cents. 
Bui.  100.  Report  of  Irrigation  Investigations  in  California,  under  the  direction  of 

Elwood  Mead,  assisted  by  William  E.  Smythe,  Marsden  Manson,  J.  M. 

Wilson,  Charles  D  JVlarx,  Frank  Soule",  C.  E.  Grunsky,  Edward  M.  Boggs, 

and  James  D.  Schuyler.     Pp.  411.     Price,  cloth,  $1.25;  paper,  90  cents. 
*Bul.  104.  The  Use  of  Water  in  Irrigation.     Report  of  investigations  made  in  1900, 

under  the  supervision  of  Elwood  Mead,  expert  in  charge,  and  C.  T. 

Johnston,  assistant.     Pp.  334.     Price,  50  cents. 
Bui.  105.  Irrigation  in  the  United  States.     Testimony  of  Elwood  Mead,  irrigation 

expert  in  charge,  before  the  United  States  Industrial  Commission,  June 

11  and  12,  1901.     Pp.  47.     Price,  15  cents. 

Bui.  108.  Irrigation  Practice  among  Fruit  Growers  on  the  Pacific  Coast.     By  E.  J. 

Wickson.     Pp.  54.     Price,  15  cents. 
Bui.  113.  Irrigation  of  Rice  in  the  United  States.     By  Frank  Bond  and  George  H. 

Keeney.     Pp.  77.     Price,  30  cents. 
Bui.  118.  Irrigation  from  Big  Thompson  River.     By  John  E.  Field.     Pp.  75.     Price, 

10  cents. 

*Bul.  119.  Report  of  Irrigation  Investigations  for  1901,  under  the  direction  of  Elwood 
Mead,  chief.     Pp.  401.     Price,  50  cents. 

[Continued  on  third  page  of  cover.] 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT   OF   AGRICULTURE. 

OFFICE  OF  EXPERIMENT  STATIONS— BULLETIN  NO.  145. 

A.    C.    TRUE,   Director. 


PREPARING  LAND  FOR  IRRIGATION  AND 
METHODS  OF  APPLYING  WATER. 


PREPARED  BY  THE  AGENTS  OF  IRRIGATION  INVESTIGATIONS. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE. 
1904. 


OFFICE  OF  EXPERIMENT  STATIONS. 

A..C.  TRUE,  Ph.  D.,  Director. 

E.  W.  ALLEN,  Ph.  P.,  Assistant  Director. 

IRRIGATION   INVESTIGATIONS. 

ELWOOD  MEAD,  Chief. 
R.  P.  TEELE,  Editorial  Assistant. 
C.  E.  TAIT,  Assistant,  in  Charge  of  Central  District. 
SAMUEL  FORTIER,  Irrigation  Engineer,  in  Charge  of  Pacific  District. 
C.  G.  ELLIOTT,  Engineer,  in  Charge  of  Drainage  Investigations 
2 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE, 

OFFICE  OF  EXPERIMENT  STATIONS, 

Washington,  D.  C.,  May  26, 1904. 

SIR:  1  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  a  report  on  preparing 
land  for  irrigation  and  methods-  of  applying  water,  submitted  by 
El  wood  Mead,  chief  of  irrigation  investigations.  Its  publication  as 
a  bulletin  of  this  Office  is  recommended. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  this  Office  is  cooperating  in  irrigation  inves- 
tigations in  California  with  the  State  board  of  examiners,  composed 
of  Governor  George  C.  Pardee,  Hon.  Henry  F.  Curry,  secretary  of 
state,  and  Hon.  U.  S.  Webb,  attorney-general,  it  is  recommended  that 
5,000  copies  of  this  bulletin  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  that  board  for 
special  distribution  in  California  in  furtherance  of  such  cooperation. 
Respectfully,  A.  C.  TRUE, 

Director. 
Hon.  JAMES  WILSON, 


This  bulletin  is  issued  by  the  Office  of  Experiment  Stations, 
U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  cooperating  in  irrigation  investi- 
gations in  California  with  the  State  Board  of  Examiners,  composed 
of  Governor  George  C.  Pardee,  Secretary  of  State  Charles  F.  Curry, 
and  Attorney-General  U.  S.  Webb. 


LETTER  OF  SUBMITTAL 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE, 

OFFICE  OF  EXPERIMENT  STATIONS, 

Washington,  D.  C.,  May  26,  190  J^. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  herewith  a  report  describing  some 
of  the  methods  of  preparing  land  for  irrigation  and  of  applying  water 
to  crops  in  different  sections  of  the  arid  region  of  the  United  States, 
and  to  recommend  its  publication. 

The  purpose  of  this  bulletin  is  to  bring  together  the  results  of  actual 
experience  in  preparing  land  for  irrigation,  for  the  benefit  of  farmers 
who  are  now  irrigating  or  who  may  in  the  future  undertake  the  recla- 
mation of  lands  now  arid.  The  information  contained  in  this  report 
as  to  the  tools  and  implements  used,  the  methods  to  be  employed,  and 
the  cost  of  the  work  is  based  on  actual  examples  and  affords  a  reliable 
guide  to  the  cost  of  these  features  of  irrigation  in  the  districts  repre- 
sented, while  the  number  and  wide  distribution  of  these  districts  will 
make  possible  approximate  estimates  of  the  cost  of  the  different 
methods  and  will  help  greatly  in  the  selection  of  the  one  best  suited  to 
given  conditions. 

Nor  is  the  practical  value  of  this  bulletin  limited  to  beginners.  The 
primary  object  of  all  irrigation  is  to  furnish  the  requisite  amount  of 
moisture  to  cultivated  plants.  The  manner  in  which  this  is  done 
determines,  in  a  large  measure,  the  profits  of  ditch  and  canal  compa- 
nies and  the  yields  and  values  of  irrigated  lands.  Ultimate  success  in 
irrigation  development  depends  on  the  way  farms  are  irrigated.  In 
American  irrigation  practice  this  particular  branch  of  the  subject  has 
been  much  neglected.  Hydraulic  engineers  have  assisted  associations 
and  corporations  in  the  designing  and  construction  of  reservoirs,  damsy 
and  main  canals,  but  western  farmers  have  received  little  help  in  devis- 
ing measures  for  the  proper  use  of  water.  The  art  of  irrigation  in 
this  country  has  become  in  consequence  somewhat  one-sided,  much 
more  consideration  having  been  given  to  the  diversion  and  conveyance 
of  water  than  to  its  distribution  and  application  to  the  soil.  Reservoirs 
and  canals  are  but  means  to  accomplish  a  purpose,  and  that  purpose  is 
to  increase  the  products  of  the  soil.  The  time  is  coming  when  the 
most  important  problems  connected  with  irrigation  will  be  the  needs 
of  the  plant  as  regards  moisture  and  not,  as  at  present,  those  of  storage 
and  conveyance.  If  all-round  progress  is  to  be  made  it  is  imperative 

5 


6 

that  the  same  degree  of  skill  and  intelligence  be  used  in  spreading 
water  over  the  field  as  is  now  exercised  in  bringing  water  to  the 
farmer's  head  gate. 

Too  much  credit  can  not  well  be  given  to  the  comparative!}7  small 
number  of  farmers  who  have  devised  the  present  methods  of  using 
water.  In  the  majority  of  cases  these  methods  are  probably  best  suited 
to  the  particular  farms  for  which  they  were  designed.  At  the  same 
time  they  may  be  wholly  unfitted  for  neighboring  farms.  In  this  con- 
nection wise  selections  are  the  exception  and  not  the  rule.  Farmers 
imitate  the  methods  of  a  few  enterprising  leaders  without  much  thought 
as  to  the  effect  of  varying  local  conditions.  It  has  been  shown,  for 
example,  that  the  proper  way  to  apply  water  to  a  field  will  depend  on 
the  texture  of  the  soil,  the  nature  of  the  crop,  and  other  local  condi- 
tions. In  view  of  this,  it  is  evident  that  all  the  farms  in  a  district 
should  not  be  irrigated  in  the  same  way.  Considerable  experience  and 
a  high  order  of  intelligence  are  necessary  to  make  the  best  possible  use 
of  water  in  irrigation.  In  deciding  on  the  best  direction  to  run  field 
ditches  or  how  to  prepare  the  surface  the  example  of  a  neighbor  or 
the  usual  practice  of  a  community  is  not  sufficient  reason  for  adopting 
a  particular  system.  The  only  safe  plan  is  to  examine  closely  the 
conditions  on  one's  farm  and  then  out  of  many  methods  to  choose  the 
one  which  will  suit  best.  This,  however,  involves  an  intimate  knowl- 
edge of  different  methods,  which  few  farmers  possess. 

The  irrigation  investigations  of  this  Office  are  peculiarly  adapted  in 
their  organization  to  collect,  collate,  and  publish  the  advances  made 
as  a  result  of  the  practical  experience  of  western  irrigators  during 
the  past  quarter  of  a  century.  Through  cooperation  with  the  State 
experiment  stations  and  the  State  engineer's  offices,  and  the  labors  of 
experts  in  the  field,  the  conditions  and  methods  of  the  entire  arid 
region  can  be  brought  together  with  accuracy  as  to  details  and  economy 
in  the  expenditure  of  money  and  time. 

In  these  investigations  all  the  field  workers  are  engaged  in  col- 
lecting in  a  systematic  manner  the  facts  on  particular  details  of 
irrigation  practice  in  the  district  where  they  are  at  the  time  engaged. 
.This  bulletin  is  one  of  a  series  of  reports  which  this  Office  is  publish- 
ing on  irrigation  methods  and  practices.  The  information  for  two 
bulletins  on  methods  of  measuring  water  and  the  rise  of  water  in  the 
soil  is  now  being  gathered. 

The  general  discussion  and  comparison  of  methods  of  preparing  land 
for  irrigation  described  in  this  bulletin,  the  descriptions  of  furrow  irri- 
gation, the  check  system  of  irrigation,  the  use  of  flumes  and  pipes  in 
furrow  irrigation,  the  basin  method  of  irrigation  as  practiced  in  the 
Santa  Clara  Valley,  California,  and  irrigation  by  flooding  as  practiced 
in  Gallatin  Valley,  Montana,  were  prepared  by  Prof.  S.  Fortier, 
irrigation  engineer  in  charge  of  the  Pacific  district. 


The  use  of  metal  pipe  and  canvas  hose  in  the  irrigation  of  field  crops 
in  California  is  described  by  A.  P.  Stover,  irrigation  assistant;  pre- 
paring land  for  irrigation  in  Salt  Lake  Basin,  by  E.  R.  Morgan  and 
A.  P.  Stover,  irrigation  assistants;  the  clearing  and  leveling  of  land 
in  Imperial  Valley,  California,  by  J.  E.  Roadhouse,  agent  and  expert; 
irrigation  by  the  furrow  system  in  Washington,  by  C.  G.  Elliott, 
irrigation  assistant  in  charge  of  drainage  investigations;  irrigation 
practice  in  Nevada,  by  Prof.  G.  H.  True,  agent  and  expert;  while 
methods  of  preparing  land  for  irrigation  in  use  in  western  Kansas,  in 
Nebraska,  and  in  Wyoming  are  described  by  L.  G..  C.  Mayer,  agent 
and  expert,  Prof.  O.  V.  P.  Stout,  agent  and  expert,  and  William 
Francis  Bartlett,  agent  and  expert. 

Professor  Fortier  and  Mr.  Teele,  editorial  assistant  in  this  Office, 
edited  and  arranged  the  report  for  publication. 

ELWOOD  MEAD, 
Chief  of  Irrigation  Investigations. 

A.  C.  TRUE, 

Director. 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Introduction 13 

Preparing  land  for  irrigation 16 

Clearing  and  leveling  land  in  Imperial  Valley,  California 16 

The  use  of  scrapers 16 

The  rectangular  leveler 17 

Modified  buck  scraper 18 

Clearing  and  leveling  land  in  Washington 19 

Removing  sagebrush  in  Salt  Lake  basin 20 

Preparing  land  for  irrigation  in  Colorado  and  Wyoming 21 

Laying  out  laterals 23 

Cost 24 

Preparing  land  for  irrigation  in  Gallatin  Valley,  Montana 24 

Leveling 24 

Establishing  grades  for  field  ditches 25 

Preparing  land  for  irrigation  in  Nebraska 27 

Methods  of  applying  water 28 

Methods  in  use  in  California 28 

The  check  system 28 

Laying  out  checks 29 

Check  or  sluice  boxes 31 

Flooding  checks 33 

Cost  of  checking  land • 33 

The  border  method 34 

Furrow  irrigation 35 

Furrow  irrigation  from  earthen  ditches 36 

The  use  of  short  tubes  in  furrow  irrigation 37 

The  use  of  flumes  and  pipesjn  furrow  irrigation -40 

Making  furrows 43 

The  basin  method  of  irrigation  as  practiced  in  the  Santa  Clara  Valley, 

California 46 

Flooding  basins 48 

Use  of  metal  pipe  and  canvas  hose  in  irrigation  of  field  crops  in 

California 50 

Construction  of  pipe,  hose,  and  stands 54 

Cost  of  pipe  and  hose 55 

Summary 57 

Use  of  metal  conduits  in  hillside  orchard  irrigation 58 

Pipe  irrigation  in  orchards 58 

Metal  troughs  a  substitute  for  pipes 

Furrow  irrigation  in  the  Yakima  Valley,  Washington 60 

Head  ditches 60 

Setting  spouts 60 

The  irrigating  furrows 61 


10 

Methods  of  applying  water — Continued.  Page. 
Furrow  irrigation  in  the  Yakima  Valley,  Washington — Continued. 

Field  flumes 61 

HQW  to  irrigate 62 

Irrigation  by  flooding  in  Gallatin  Valley,  Montana 62 

Irrigation  practice  in  Nevada 66 

Native  grasses 66 

Alfalfa 66 

Grain 68 

Methods  in  use  in  Salt  Lake  basin 70 

Methods  in  use  in  Colorado  and  Wyoming 72 

Care  of  laterals 73 

An  estimate  of  the  cost  of  applying  water  to  crops 74 

Methods  in  use  in  Nebraska 75 

Irrigation  in  western  Kansas 76 

An  example  of  hillside  irrigation 78 

A  serviceable  flume 78 

Comparison  of  methods 78 

The  check  method 79 

Flooding  from  field  ditches 80 

Furrow  irrigation 82 

The  basin  method . .  83 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PLATES. 

Page. 
PLATE  I.  Fig.  1. — Sagebrush  plain,  Yakima  Valley,  Washington.     Fig.  2. — 

Using  buck  scraper 18 

II.  Fig.  1. — Homemade  lateral  plow  at  right,  front  view.     Fig.  2. — Same, 

rear  view 22 

III.  Fig.  1. — Furrow  irrigation  of  sweet  potatoes.     Fig.  2. — Implement 

for  making  furrows  in  orange  orchard 36 

IV.  Fig.  1. — Rotary  scraper.     Fig.  2. — Distributing  water  with   canvas 

hose 48 

V.  Fig.  1. — Common  method  of  connecting  metal  pipe  with  cement  stand. 
Fig.  2. — Distributing  water  from  sections  of  metal  pipe 

attached  to  main  pipe  by  canvas  elbows 52 

VI.  Fig.  1. — Making  furrows  with  single-shovel  plow.     Fig.  2. — Wooden 

head  flume i 60 

VII.  Fig.  1. — Furrower  used  on  Nevada  Experiment  Station  farm.     Fig. 

2.— Furrower  used  by  D.  C.  Wheeler,  Reno,  Nev 68 

TEXT  FIGURES. 

FIG.  1.  Rectangular leveler 17 

2.  Modified  buck  scraper  (planer) 18 

3.  Homemade  land  grader 25 

4.  Leveler 26 

5.  Homemade  level 27 

6.  Contour  lines 30 

7.  Contour  checks 30 

8.  Rectangular  checks 31 

9.  Checkbox 32 

10.  Checkbox 33 

11.  Adjustable  V  scraper  or  crowder 37 

12.  Tube  for  diverting  water  to  furrows 38 

13.  Tube  for  lateral  bank 40 

14.  Board  flume  for  use  in  furrow  irrigation J 41 

15.  V-shaped  flume  for  use  in  furrow  irrigation 41 

16.  Cross  section  of  8-inch  cement  flume 42 

17.  Cross  section  of  10-inch  concrete  flume 42 

18.  Furrower 44 

19.  Adjustable  ridger 47 

20.  Steel  ridger 

21.  Irrigating  orchard  by  basin  method 48 

22.  Irrigating  orchard  by  basin  method 49 

23.  Method  of  grading  interior  of  basins  to  prevent  water  coming  in  direct 

contact  with  trunks  of  trees 50 

11 


12 

Page. 

FIG.  24.  Details  of  construction  of  8-inch  cement  stand 51 

25.  Irrigating  field  strips 52 

26.  Methods  of  arranging  collar  connection  at  ends  of  canvas  hose 55 

27.  Dammer  used  in  cleaning  and  damming  field  laterals 63 

28.  Canvas  dam  with  opening  to  divide  an  irrigating  stream 64 

29.  Flooding  from  field  laterals 65 

30.  Flooding  from  ditches  running  down  steepest  slope 65 

31.  Use  of  tappoons  in  furrow  irrigation 69 

32.  Homemade  marker  for  furrow  irrigation. 70 

33.  Wooden  flume  used  bv  Mr.  Warner,  Scott  County,  Kans 78 


PREPARING  LAND  FOR  IRRIGATION  AND  METHODS  OF 
APPLYING  WATER. 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  diversity  in  irrigation  methods  in  use  on  western  farms  is  largely 
due  to  the  early  training  and  environment  of  the  irrigate rs  them- 
selves. Among  the  120,000  irrigators  of  Western  America  are  to 
be  found  nearly  all  classes  and  nationalities.  Each  settler  from 
another  State  or  from  a  foreign  country  introduces  on  his  farm  some 
custom  or  practice  common  to  his' old  environment.  This  is  particu- 
larly noticeable  in  the  conservative  Chinese,  who  irrigate  the  truck 
gardens  near  towns  and  cities  in  Chinese  fashion.  The  same  is  true  of 
the  Italians,  Spaniards,  and  Mexicans,  who  imitate  for  a  time  at  least  the 
ways  of  their  forefathers.  It  also  applies,  but  to  a  less  degree,  to  those 
who  come  from  humid  States.  The  farmer  who  lives  until  maturity 
in  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  then  moves  west  onto  an  irrigated 
farm  does  not  as  a  general  thing  adopt  new  ways  of  farming  until 
crop  failures  compel  him  to  do  so.  Even  then  the  old  ways  of  doing 
things  are  mixed  with  the  new. 

Then,  apart  from  the  influence  which  early  training  may  exert,  there 
is  always  present  the  vital  question  of  money.  Many  new  settlers 
have  not  the  means  to  prepare  their  fields  for  easy  and  efficient  irriga- 
tion. They  are  compelled  to  resort  to  crude  methods,  which  rob  them 
of  a  part  of  their  possible  profits. 

The  large  stockmen  pasture  cattle  and  sheep  on  public  lands  and 
irrigate  only  sufficient  native  meadow  and  alfalfa  to  supply  the  needs 
of  their  stock  in  midwinter.  With  this  class  irrigation  is  a  side  issue 
and  seldom  receives  the  attention  which  it  deserves. 

Others  again  have  another  excuse  for  their  poor  methods.  They 
are  tenants  and  wish  to  obtain  the  greatest  immediate  returns  for  the 
least  possible  expense.  At  the  other  extreme  one  finds  the  so-called 
"  agriculturist,"  who  makes  his  money  selling  merchandise  in  the  city 
and  spends  it  on  his  farm  in  the  country.  This  class  is  content  with 
small  returns  for  large  outla}^s;  for  to  such  people  farming  is  a  pastime. 

The  size  of  the  farm  has  also  much  to  do  with  the  manner  of  irrigat- 
ing it.  On  large  farms  it  has  been  difficult  of  late  years  to  hire  the 
help  needed  during  the  busy  season.  In  consequence,  owners  have 
been  forced  to  expend  more  labor  and  money  in  preparing  the  surface 
for  more  rapid  and  easy  irrigation.  On  the  other  hand,  the  farmer 

13 


14 

who  cultivates  a  small  tract  with  the  assistance  of  his  boys  can  obtain 
better  crops  at  less  cost  for  implements,  machinery,  and  materials  by 
going  without  the  latest  improvements  and  having  all  labor  performed 
by  the  members  of  the  family. 

Another  cause  of  diversity  is  the  character  of  the  water  supply  for 
the  farm.  The  way  a  field  is  watered  frequently  depends  on  the  man- 
ner in  which  water  is  delivered.  One  man  may  receive  a  small  flow 
continuously  for  months,  another  may  receive  a  large  volume  for  a 
short  time,  and  a  third  may  be  dependent  on  a  mountain  creek  which 
may  have  a  flood  flow  in  May  and  be  dry  in  July.  It  will  be  readily 
seen  that  all  irrigation  works  pertaining  to  the  farm  should  be  planned 
to  suit  the  source'  from  which  water  is  obtained  and  the  regulations 
governing  its  deliver}- . 

Climate  has  a  still  greater  influence.  It  is  the  cloudless  sky,  the 
high  summer  temperature,  the  excessive  evaporation,  and  the  lack  of 
rainfall  that  compel  western  farmers  to  irrigate  It  is  none  the  less 
true  that  the  elements  which  go  to  make  up  the  general  term  "cli- 
mate "  differ  in  every  locality.  Over  the  vast  area  of  1,433,830  square 
miles  which  lie  west  of  the  one  hundredth  meridian  there  is  the  widest 
diversity.  No  two  States  or  river  basins  have  the  same  climate.  On 
the  border  land  between  the  wet  and  dry  regions  irrigation  is  not  an 
absolute  necessity.  It  is  resorted  to  only  in  years  of  scanty  rainfall. 
At  the  other  extreme  is  the  irrigated  section  of  southern  California, 
where  irrigation  not  only  is  a  necessity,  but  must  be  practiced  the 
greater  part  of  the  year.  The  average  annual  rainfall  at  San  Diego, 
Cal.,  for  example,  for  the  past  fifty-two  years  has  been  only  9.43  inches. 
What  is  true  of  rainfall  applies  with  equal  force  to  evaporation  and 
temperature.  The  evaporation  from  an  irrigated  field  in  Arizona  in 
midsummer  is  quite  different  from  what  it  is  in  Wyoming. 

There  is  a  wide  diversity  in  the  soils  and  subsoils  of  the  arid  region. 
This  diversity  calls  for  modifications  in  the  methods  employed  in 
preparing  the  surface  and  applying  the  water.  The  farmer  in  one 
locality  can  not  use  the  furrow  sj^stem  on  account  of  the  porous  nature 
of  the  soil  and  subsoil.  A  stream  might  run  for  days  and  days  in  a 
furrow  and  not  advance  beyond  a  sandy  "  sump.''  In  other  localities 
nothing  but  furrows  can  be  used  for  the  reason  that  the  fine  particles 
of  basaltic  soil  bake  so  readily  when  the  surface  is  flooded  as  to  damage 
the  crops. 

The  nature  of  the  surface,  as  well  as  the  steepness  of  the  slope,  is 
likewise  to  be  considered.  The  hog  wallows  of  California  are  first 
cousins  to  the  buffalo  wallows  of  Montana.  In  every  locality,  wherever 
found,  this  unfavorable  formation  of  alternate  height  and  hollow  must 
receive  special  treatment.  The  methods  suited  to  an  even,  uniform 
slope  do  not  apply  to  such  land. 


15 


A  good  example  of  steep  grades  may  be  seen  in  going  from  Sacra- 
mento, Cal.,  to  Reno,  Nev.  The  orchards  on  the  western  slope  of  the 
Sierras  seem  to  be  on  edge.  Here,  as  elsewhere  throughout  the  West, 
costly  trials  and  patient  effort  have  finally  overcome  the  difficulty,  and 
these  orchards  are  now  irrigated  with  much  the  same  ease  as  orchards 
on  gentle  slopes. 

And,  finally,  the  variety  of  crops  raised  is  a  cause  of  differences  in 
irrigation  methods.  There  is  a  wonderful  diversity  in  the  cultivated 
plants  of  the  irrigated  farm,  from  the  native  blue  joint  of  the  North 
to  the  date  palm  of  the  South,  and  from  the  corn  fields  of  the  East  to 
the  citrus  groves  of  the  West.  For  each  of  these  scores  of  plants 
some  particular  kind  of  soil,  climate,  and  locality  will  suit  best.  There 
is  also  for  each  the  proper  time  to  sow  and  to  reap,  to  cultivate  and  to 
irrigate. 

"Everything  grows  in  California,"  said  a  Franciscan  monk  of  Santa 
Barbara  last  April.  This  growth,  however,  is  seldom  due  to  natural 
conditions.  The  highest  intelligence  is  required  to  sow  the  seed  in 
the  right  place  and  to  properly  care  for  the  plant.  Frequently  other 
soils  and  other  climates  produce  the  seeds  which  are  made  to  flourish 
in  a  western  desert. 

Many  reasons  might  be  given  for  publishing  descriptions  of  differ- 
ent methods  of  preparing  land  and  apptying  water.  It  is  thought 
advisable,  for  instance,  that  the  farmers  of  one  arid  State  shall  be 
made  familiar  with  the  practices  of  those  of  their  calling  in  other  arid 
States.  Again,  since  there  are  so  many  different  ways  of  perform- 
ing the  same  task,  it  is  considered  wise  to  bring  together  in  one  pub- 
lication such  information  regarding  different  methods  as  will  enable 
the  reader  to  make  an  intelligent  comparison.  There  is  also  a 
desire  to  place  in  the  hands  of  the  new  settlers  on  irrigated  farms 
some  of  the  lessons  of  costly  experience  of  the  past  fifty  years. 

In  the  reports  given  herein  no  effort  has  been  made  to  cover  the 
entire  arid  region  or  to  describe  all  of  the  different  methods  adopted. 
Notwithstanding  this  necessary  limitation,  the  information  contained 
in  this  bulletin  represents  in  a  general  way  the  entire  West. 

The  most  prevalent  mode  of  preparing  the  surfaces  of  fields,  laying 
out  and  building  lateral  ditches,  and  wetting  the  soil  in  the  following- 
named  localities  have  been  described: 


State. 

Locality. 

State. 

Locality. 

Washington  

Yakima  Valley. 

Montana 

Gallatin  Vallev 

Colorado 

Cache  la  Poudre  Valley 

fSanta  Clara  Valley 

Utah  

Salt  Lake  Basin. 

California 

jSan  Joaquin  Valley. 

Nebraska  

Nevada  . 

Western  Nebraska. 
Truckee  Valley 

1  Southern  California, 
[imperial  Vallev 

Kansas 

Western  Kansas 

30439— No.  145—04- 


16 

Much  more  space  has  been  given  to  California  than  to  any  other 
State.  The  reasons  for  this  are  not  far  to  seek.  In  climate,  topog- 
raphy, and  soil  products  it  possesses  a  wide  range.  As  a  result,  there 
is  not  only  great  diversity  in  the  kinds  of  crops  produced,  but  also  in 
the  manner  of  preparing  the  land  for  irrigation  and  supplying  it  with 
moisture. 

PREPARING  LAND  FOR  IRRIGATION. 

CLEARING  AND  LEVELING  LAND  IN  IMPERIAL  VALLEY, 
CALIFORNIA. 

The  land  in  Imperial  Valley  has  a  uniform  grade  of  from  2  to  6  feet 
per  mile,  which  is  well  adapted  to  irrigation,  but  the  removal  of 
"niesquite  mines,"  sagebrush,  and  greasewood  on  the  top  of  hum- 
mocks taxes  the  ingenuity  of  irrigators.  Sometimes  the  workmen 
remove  the  brush  from  the  top  of  a  hummock  with  mattocks.  This 
method  is  slow  and  expensive,  and  the  workman  is  often  obliged  to  dig 
for  a  long  time  to  remove  a  single  gnarled  root.  A  better  and  cheaper 
method  is  the  use  of  a  railroad  rail  to  each  end  of  which  a  team  is 
hitched.  The  rail  should  be  bent  to  a  V  shape,  thus  giving  much 
more  power  in  cutting  and  tearing  up  brush  when  dragged  over  and 
back.  The  brittle  branches  are  broken  off  below  the  ground,  or  the 
shrubs  are  pulled  up  by  the  roots.  The  brush,  which  is  quite  inflam- 
mable on  account  of  an  oil  which  it  contains,  may  be  burned  at  once. 
The  land  is  then  ready  for  leveling.  The  implements  most  commonly 
used  are  the  scraper,  the  rectangular  leveler,  and  the  planer. 

THE    USE   OF   SCRAPERS. 

Scrapers  are  in  great  favor  for  leveling  land  throughout  California. 
In  the  Imperial  Valley  they  are  handled  by  Cocopah  Indians,  who 
work  for  $1.50  per  day  and  board  themselves. 

The  scraper  most  commonly  used  is  strong,  portable,  and  has  a  wide 
range  of  use.  It  loads  quickly  and  loses  but  little  in  transportation. 
After  the  load  is  dumped  the  team  may  be  turned  readily,  and  when 
empty  the  scraper  is  drawn  with  sagging  traces.  It  has,  however,  the 
following  disadvantages:  (1)  The  sudden  strain  on  the  team  and  the 
dumping  bruises  the  shoulders  of  the  animals;  (2)  skill  in  handling  is 
necessary  to  rapid  work  and  experienced  help  is  usually  difficult  to  find; 

(3)  the  laborers  object  to  the  constant  lifting  in  loading  and  dumping; 

(4)  large  hummocks  are  often  full  of  limbs  and  roots  of  mesquite; 
mesquite  mines,  so  called,  will  catch  on  the  blade  of  the  scraper,  mak- 
ing it  impossible  to  load  until  the  root  is  removed.     Leveling  with 
the  scraper  is  more  expensive  than  with  the  other  implements  yet  to 
be  described.     However,  hummocks  10  to  20  feet  in  diameter  and  5  to 
10  feet  high  can  be  removed  in  no  other  way.     But  if  such  heaps  of 


17 


earth  are  numerous  their  removal  will  not  be  profitable  for  ordinary 
crops.  Land  of  this  character  has  been  leveled  with  the  scraper  at  an 
average  cost  of  $3  to  $5  per  acre.  No  attempt  is  made  to  have  the 
land  perfectly  level;  the  farmers  are  satisfied  with  a  uniform  slope. 

THE    RECTANGULAR   LEVELER. 

Land  on  which  the  hummocks  are  more  or  less  uniform  in  size  can 
be  more  cheaply  and  quickly  leveled  by  means  other  than  the  use  of 
the  scraper.  An  iniplement  in  favor  in  Imperial  Valley  for  the  reduc- 
tion of  these  hummocks  is  a  rectangular  leveler.  This  machine  (fig.  1)  is 
large  and  strong  enough  to  remove  hummocks,  shrubs,  roots,  and  all. 
It  is  a  rectangular  frame  30  feet  long  and  12  feet  wide  made  of  4  by 
12  inch  timbers,  preferably  Oregon  pine.  The  12-foot  timbers,  six 
in  number  and  6  feet  apart,  except  No.  4,  are  spiked  or  bolted  to  the 
30-foot  side  timbers  and  have  iron  tightening  rods  beside  them.  Scraper 


PERING  LEVER  «r'6  PLATES 

I'STflPLE  OF  STRflP  IRON  )       -^  SPLIT  PIN 


FIG.  1.— Rectangular  leveler. 

No.  4:  is  attached  to  hangers  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  moved  up  and  down 
by  a  lever.  Each  crosspiece  is  shod  on  the  wearing  side  with  plates  of 
steel  f  inch  by  6  inches;  thus  each  acts  as  a  scraper.  The  machine 
weighs  1,600  to  2,000  pounds.  It  is  drawn  by  16  horses  attached  by 
chains  and  eveners  to  the  ends  of  the  side  timbers.  Cross  braces  of 
2  by  6  inch  timbers  give  rigidity  against  strains  in  drawing  and 
turning.  The  lever  is  shown  in  the  upper  part  of  figure  1. 

The  machine  is  practically-  six  levelers,  each  made  more  effective  by 
the  total  weight  including  the  operators.  The  large  chains  and  eveners 
by  which  the  team  is  attached  are  of  no  small  value  in  preparing  the 
way.  If  the  hummock  is  capped  with  brush  the  tops  are  broken  by  the 
eveners,  the  stems  are  scattered,  and  the  earth  is  loosened.  The  first 
leveler  carries  before  it  and  gradually  crushes  most  of  the  brush  and 
removes  the  top  of  the  knoll,  spreading  the  sand  in  a  fan-shape  in  the 


18 

nearest  depression.  The  second  leveler  takes  off  more  earth  and  carries 
it  farther;  the  third  continues  the  process.  Scraper  No.  4  is  controlled 
by  the  lever  and  can  be  raised  and  lowered  at  will.  This  is  of  particular 
advantage  if  the  knoll  has  become  compact;  for  as  much  of  the  weight 
of  the  machine  as  desired  can  be  applied  to  this  scraper.  The  fifth  and 
sixth  levelers  complete  the  process.  The  machine  has  the  additional 
weight  of  the  driver  on  the  front  and  the  lever  tender  on  the  rear.  If 
there  is  uniformity  in  the  size  and  position  of  the  knolls,  and  this  is 
where  this  leveler  has  its  greatest  value,  the  field  is  worked  over  in 
long  narrow  lands,  from  one-half  a  mile  to  a  mile  long  and  100  or  200 
yards  wide. 

MODIFIED    BUCK    SCRAPER. 

This  implement  is  especially  useful  on  slightly  uneven  ground,  small 
detached  hummocks,  or  small  washes.  For  this  class  of  work  it  is 
preferable  by  far  to  any  other  known  to  the  writer.  A  similar  machine 
has  been  used  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  of  California. 


FIG.  2.— Modified  buck  scraper  (planer). 

This  leveler,  called  a  planer  (fig.  2),  is  composed  of  a  14-foot  horizontal 
or  base  timber  4  by  12  inches,  and  a  back  of  2-inch  lumber  18  inches 
high.  The  timbers  are  held  together  by  the  extension  of  the  steel  plate 
with  which  the  base  is  shod,  and  also  by  i  by  14  inch  iron  straps  from 
the  top  of  the  base  to  a  point  near  the  top  of  the  vertical  piece.  The 
base  is  beveled  toward  the  front  and  shod  with  plate  steel  to  make  it 
take  dirt.  Each  end  of  the  base  extends  1  foot  beyond  the  end  of  the 
vertical  portion  to  which  footboards  are  bolted.  Outside  of  and  below 
the  footboards  are  the  iron  straps  to  which  the  teams  are  attached. 
On  each  footboard  stands  a  driver  of  four  mules,  and  together  they 
govern  the  action  of  the  planer.  On  approaching  a  small  mound  the 
drivers  stand  on  the  forward  ends  of  the  footboards,  thus  depressing 
the  blade.  As  the  planer  moves  forward  a  layer  of  earth  is  shaved  off 
and  gradually  scattered  as  the  weight  of  the  driver  is  shifted  to  the 
rear  of  the  footboards.  The  teams  may  be  readily  turned  and  the  same 


U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr.,  Bui.  145,  Office  of  Expt.  Stations.      Irrigation  Investigations. 


PLATE  I. 


FIQ.  1.— SAGEBRUSH  PLAIN,  YAKIMA  VALLEY,  WASHINGTON. 


FIG.  2.— USING  BUCK  SCRAPER. 


mound  again  approached.  The  manipulation  is  very  simple,  easy,  and 
effective.  The  planer  is  of  especial  value  in  conjunction  with  the  rec- 
tangular leveler  described  on  page  17.  When  the  larger  machine  has 
removed  and  reduced  the  brush  and  pared  down  the  major  part  of  the 
hummocks  the  remaining  part  may  be  quickly  removed  by  the  planer. 
In  this  way  the  land  can  be  more  cheaply  cleared  than  by  the  use  of  a 
railroad  rail  and  scrapers.  On  the  farm  of  W.  C.  Raymond,  east  of 
Imperial,  the  brush  and  hummocks  were  removed  on  200  acres  for 
$225,  or  $1.13  per  acre.  The  completion  of  the  leveling  with  the 
planer  will  cost  $1  to  $1.50,  depending  on  the  topography,  making  an 
average  cost  of  $2.13  to  $2.63  per  acre  for  clearing  and  leveling.  The 
planer  may  also  be  used  to  advantage  with  scrapers.  , 

CLEARING  AND  LEVELING  LAND  IN  WASHINGTON. 

Land  in  the  Yakima  Valley  is  covered  with  sagebrush  and  is  usually 
rough.  (PL  1,  fig.  1.)  If  grease  wood  is  found  mingled  with  the  sage- 
brush to  any  considerable  extent  the  land  is  regarded  with  suspicion, 
since  this  brush  is  looked  upon  as  an  index  of  the  presence  of  injurious 
alkali  in  the  soil. 

The  roots  of  sagebrush  are  all  near  the  surface  and  the  earth  about 
them  is  loose,  so  that  the  removal  of  the  brush  is  not  difficult  nor 
expensive.  It  is  grubbed  with  a  sharp  mattock  which  cuts  the  roots 
below  the  surface  of  the  ground.  The  usual  cost  of  clearing  the  land 
by  hand  work,  including  burning  of  the  brush,  is  $3  an  acre,  though 
during  the  winter  when  labor  is  plentiful  it  is  sometimes  done  for  $2 
an  acre. 

Another  plan  for  clearing  th.e  land  of  brush  consists  in  drawing  a 
railroad  rail  across  the  field  and  doubling  back  over  the  same  tract. 
This  pulls  many  of  the  bushes  out  and  loosens  others,  so  that  the  sub- 
sequent work  required  is  much  lessened.  This  plan  is  not  regarded 
as  reducing  the  cost  of  the  work  materially,  but  it  is  more  expeditious 
than  the  first.  The  loose  brush  is  drawn  into  windrows  with  a  sage- 
brush rake  and  burned.  The  rake  has  strong  teeth  about  2  feet  long 
made  of  2  by  4  inch  scantling.  The  brush  is  sometimes  used  for  cov- 
ering stretches  of  sandy  road,  greatly  improving  their  condition  as 
soon  as  the  brush  is  once  crushed  into  place  by  travel. 

The  leveling  of  the  land  is  a  work  involving  more  time  and  expense 
than  anything  else  connected  with  the  starting  of  a  new  place.  Much 
of  the  land  consists  of  alternate  humps  and  depressions  of  from  1  to  3 
feet  in  height  or  depth,  not  infrequently  with  knobs  of  larger  dimen- 
sions. Few  implements  are  required  for  this  leveling,  the  plow  and 
the  buck  scraper  being  chiefly  used.  The  work  is  often  done  by  con- 
tract, $15  an  acre  being  a  common  price  for  the  leveling  of  land  not  so 
rough  that  it  can  not  be  readily  "  bucked"  off.  The  buck  scraper  is  a 


20 

most  effective  implement  for  moving  loose  or  sandy  earth  where  the 
haul  is  short.  Its  simplicity  and  cheapness  also  commend  it  to  the 
farmer  and  contractor.  In  its  simplest  form  it  consists  of  a  plain 
scraper  made  of  2-inch  plank  having  a  steel  shoe  on  the  cutting  edge, 
and  a  tailboard  for  holding  it  in  position  while  filling  and  also  for 
controlling  the  angle  of  the  scraper  for  the  purpose  of  leveling  the 
earth  as  it  is  dumped.  The  size  commonly  used  for  four  horses  is  8 
feet  long  and  2  feet  wide.  It  is  securely  ironed  with  strap  iron  and 
bolted  together.  The  cost  of  a  scraper  of  this  size  is  $14.  An 
improvement  consists  of  a  tailboard  equipped  with  a  lever  by  means 
of  which  the  load  may  be  dumped  and  scattered  or  spread.  These 
scrapers  are  made  of  different  lengths  up  to  24  feet,  the  latter  size 
requiring  six  teams  to  operate.  (PI.  I,  fig.  2.) 

Some  skill  is  required  in  this  work.  The  prepared  surface  should 
be  even — that  is,  free  from  hollows  and  humps,  so  that  when  water  is 
turned  in  at  the  head  of  the  furrow  it  will  flow  across  the  field  without 
forming  pools;  and  the  slopes  should  be  as  uniform  as  practicable. 
Much  labor  and  inconvenience  in  irrigating  can  be  avoided  by  making 
the  leveling  as  perfect  as  possible.  Before  it  is  considered  finished, 
water  is  sometimes  turned  upon  the  field  and  its  surface  practically 
tested  for  uneven  places,  and  additional  grading  done  afterwards  where 
shown  to  be  desirable.  An  ideal  field  is  one  which  slopes  gently  and 
uniformly. 

REMOVING  SAGEBRUSH  IN  SALT  LAKE  BASIN. 

If  the  brush  is  not  more  than  3  feet  high  it  can  probably  be  loosened 
most  easily  by  plowing  the  land  in  the  early  spring  when  there  is  suf- 
ficient moisture  in  the  soil  to  favor  easy  plowing  and  when  the  roots 
are  filled  with  sap  and  can  be  cut  easily.  It  can  then  be  collected  in 
piles  or  windrows  by  means  of  a  hay  rake,  or  a  harrow,  and  burned. 
It  is  probable  that  two  plowings  will  be  necessary  for  a  complete 
removal  of  the  brush  and  a  sufficient  loosening  of  the  soil  to  permit  of 
crops  being  planted. 

In  case  the  brush  is  too  large  to  permit  of  the  land  being  plowed 
before  it  is  at  least  partially  cleared,  some  farmers  irrigate  the  land, 
which  decreases  the  growth  or  deadens  the  brush,  and  in  some  cases 
kills  it  entirely.  This  also  produces  a  ranker  and  more  abundant 
growth  of  grass  and  weeds.  After  these  have  been  well  dried  fires 
are  started  and  the  brush  is  burned  off,  after  which  the  plowing  can 
be  easily  done. 

Where  the  brush  is  very  large  and  it  is  desired  to  remove  it  at  once 
this  may  be  done  by  means  of  a  railroad  rail,  as  described  on  page  16. 
Most  of  the  brush  is  pulled  up  and  the  rest  is  broken  down  so  as  not 
to  interfere  seriously  with  the  subsequent  plowing.  The  part  pulled 
up  is  piled  and  burned  and  that  remaining  is  plowed  up. 


21 

After  the  land  has  been  cleared  it  must  be  leveled  so  that  lateral 
ditches  can  be  properly  constructed  and  irrigation  easily  accomplished. 
Where  the  inequalities  are  but  slight  a  wooden-framed  harrow  turned 
crosswise  and  upside  down  is  drawn  over  the  field.  In  this  way  some 
of  the  soil  is  taken  from  the  knolls  and  ridges  and  deposited  in  the 
low  places.  Sometimes  the  driver  rides  the  harrow  in  order  to  assist 
in  collecting  the  soil  from  the  knolls,  and  steps  off  when  a  low  place 
is  reached. 

The  same  purpose  is  sometimes  accomplished  by  means  of  a  leveler 
made  by  fastening  a  tongue  into  a  log  6  inches  to  1  foot  in  diameter. 
This  is  used  in  the  same  manner  as  the  harrow,  and  with  about  the 
same  result,  except  that- the  work  is  accomplished  in  less  time.  If 
the  inequalities  of  the  surface  are  considerable  and  the  soil  is  deep, 
scrapers  are  used. 

If  the  soil  is  shallow  and  the  value  of  the  land  is  high,  the  upper 
layer  of  soil  is  removed  from  a  strip  about  50  or  60  feet  wide  and  put 
in  piles  near  by,  after  which  the  lower  and  poor  soil  is  scraped  into 
the  depressions.  The  soil  first  moved,  together  with  the  upper  soil  on 
both  sides,  is  then  scraped  into  the  excavation  and  the  underlying  poor 
soil  is  taken  to  the  low  places.  The  better  soil  which  was  scraped  into 
the  excavation  is  then  evenly  distributed  over  the  surface  of  the  poorer 
soil  exposed. 

Water  is  sometimes  used  as  a  leveling  agency.  Laterals  are  made 
on  the  ridges  and  the  water  is  allowed  to  flow  toward  the  depressions 
or  swails  where  it  deposits  its  sediment.  In  case  the  hollows  are  steep 
they  are  obstructed  by  manure  dams  and  the  sediment  is  held  by  them. 
Crops  are  produced  during  the  time  the  leveling  is  being  accomplished, 
so  that  this  method  is  comparatively-  cheap. 

PREPARING    LAND     FOR     IRRIGATION     IN    COLORADO     AND 

WYOMING. 

Sagebrush  can  be  killed  by  copious  watering,  and  it  has  been  a  com- 
mon practice  for  farmers  to  destroy  it  by  irrigating  the  land.  As  a 
rule,  one  season's  soaking  will  kill  it.  The  roots  and  the  dead  plants 
can  be  removed  more  easily  than  the  living  sagebrush.  This  practice 
is  less  frequently  resorted  to  each  year,  since  water  is  becoming  too 
valuable  to  use  for  this  purpose. 

If  the  sagebrush  is  large,  tough,  and  deep-rooted,  grubbing  by  hand 
with  grubbing  hoes  maybe  necessary;  but  ordinarily  a  heavy  plow 
can  be  used  to  loosen  if  not  altogether  uproot  both  sagebrush  and 
greasewood.  In  contract  work  it  is  estimated  one  man  can  grub  or 
clear  1  acre  a  day,  and  an  energetic  man,  under  ordinary  conditions, 
should  be  able  to  grub  2  acres  a  day  with  the  aid  of  a  team  and.  plow. 

After  land  has  been  cleared  of  brush  the  most  important  require- 
ment is  a  thorough  grading  of  the  land  to  be  watered.  The  freer 


22 

from  humps  and  depressions  the  surface  of  the  ground  the  more  uni- 
formly will  water  flow  over  it.  The  injurious  effects  of  attempting  to 
spread  water  over  uneven  surfaces  are  soon  apparent.  Water  settles 
in  the  low  ground,  waterlogging  the  soil  and  drowning  out  the  plant 
life,  while  an  insufficient  supply  reaches  the  higher  elevations,  leaving 
the  crops  to  burn  up.  When  once  the  surface  is  properly  graded  one 
man  can  apply  the  water  to  every  part  of  a  field  with  greater  rapidity 
and  effectiveness  than  two  or  three  men  can  irrigate  a  like  area  where 
the  slopes  are  rough  and  uneven.  Grading  should  usually  be  done 
after  the  laterals  have  been  made,  as  it  will  be  found  that  less  grading 
will  be  required  than  in  reducing  a  whole  farm  to  a  uniform  slope. 
Too  much  stress  can  not  be  put  upon  the  importance  of  grading  the 
surface  of  the  field  between  the  laterals  at  the  outset.  The  improve- 
ment is  a  permanent  one,  and  the  time  and  labor  spent  will  be  repaid 
many  fold. 

The  ordinary  means  employed  for  leveling  the  surfaces  of  fields  is 
deep  plowing,  followed  by  harrowing,  after  which  the  use  of  a  grader 
or  drag  will  reduce  the  humps  and  leave  the  excess  soil  in  the  depres- 
sions. On  some  of  the  larger  farms  common  road  scrapers  are  used. 
On  other  farms  ordinary  railroad  rails  and  drags  of  homemade  design 
are  used. 

In  building  laterals  the  first  thing  to  be  considered  is  the  lay  of  the 
land  over  which  the  water  must  be  made  to  flow.  Judging  the  true 
slope  of  ground  by  the  naked  eye  is  very  uncertain ;  for  even  the  most 
experienced  are  often  deceived  as  to  whether  the  surface  of  the  land  rises 
or  falls  in  a  given  direction.  Where  possible,  every  system  of  laterals 
should  be  laid  out  with  an  engineer's  level  and  a  contour  map  made 
of  the  whole  area.  In  lieu  of  the  services  of  a  surveyor  the  irrigator 
may  lay  out  his  own  laterals,  using  one  of  the  many  types  of  home- 
made leveling  devices.  The  average  grade  for  field  laterals  should 
vary  from  one-half  inch  to  1  inch  per  rod,  depending  upon  the  nature  of 
the  soil. 

No  special  devices  are  manufactured  and  put  upon  the  market  for 
building  laterals,  and  farmers  have  been  obliged  to  depend  upon  their 
own  ingenuity.  The  following  device  was  constructed  to  simplify  the 
work  of  excavating  ditches.  Two  steel-beam  plows,  one  with  a  right 
and  the  other  with  a  left  share,  were  placed  side  by  side  and  their 
beams  riveted  together.  The  shares  of  the  plows  were  spread  to 
give  the  furrows  a  width  of  2  feet  on  the  bottom.  The  rear  ends  of 
the  shares  were  rounded  instead  of  being  drawn  to  the  usual  point. 
Above  the  moldboards  of  the  plows  and  riveted  to  them  were  placed 
the  right  and  left  moldboards  of  old  alfalfa  plows.  (PI.  II,  fig.  1.) 
The  handles  bolted  to  the  lower  moldboards  were  spread  wider  than  in 
the  ordinary  plow  and  were  braced  to  the  beams.  (PL  II,  fig.  2.) 

The  beams  running  side  by  side  were  bent  apart  toward  the  end, 


.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr  ,  Bui.  145,  Office  of  Expt.  Stations.      Irrigation  Investigations. 


PLATE 


FIQ.  1.— HOMEMADE  LATERAL  PLOW  AT  FLIGHT,  FRONT  VIEW. 


FIG.  2.— HOMEMADE  LATERAL  PLOW,  REAR  VIEW. 


23 

affording  an  opening  wide  enough  to  insert  a  4  by  4  inch  timber  2  feet 
long,  which  is  bolted  in  place  and  on  which  the  devices  are  fastened. 

This  plow  is  drawn  by  from  four  to  eight  horses,  according  to  the 
character  of  the  ground  and  depth  of  lateral  to  be  made.  In  one 
operation  it  turns  two  furrows  to  opposite  sides  of  the  ditch  and 
throws  them  high  on  the  banks,  leaving  an  unusually  clean  bottom  about 
2  feet  in  width.  Many  plows  of  different  sizes  similar  to  this,  made 
entirely  on  the  farm  or  with  the  help  of  the  village  blacksmith,  may 
be  seen  about  Greeley,  Colo. 

Another  homemade  furrowing  device  is  the  so-called  "A,"  which  is 
drawn  through  an  ordinary  plow  furrow  and  crowds  the  loose  earth 
to  the  sides.  No  description  of  this  implement  is  necessary,  as  it  is 
used  quite  commonly  throughout  the  West. 

LAYING    OUT   LATERALS. 

In  laying  out  a  system  of  laterals  to  serve  a  farm  of,  for  instance^ 
160  acres,  it  is  important  for  the  future  saving  of  money  and  labor  to 
run  the  main  lateral  along  the  highest  portion  of  the  farm,  in  order  to 
command  the  greatest  irrigable  area.  This  sounds  so  reasonable  it 
seems  scarcely  necessary  to  mention  it;  yet,  unfortunately,  many  an 
inexperienced  irrigator  upon  taking  up  a  new  tract  of  land  may  see  in 
the  area  of  his  farm  certain  broad  fields  of  gently  sloping  ground  so 
pleasing  to  the  eye  that  his  very  first  impulse  is  to  run  a  lateral  from 
the  nearest  point  in  the  main  canal  to  the  choicest  piece  of  ground, 
altogether  overlooking  or  not  duly  considering  the  worth  of  less  favor- 
able ground,  thereby  leaving  excellent  pieces  of  land  high  and  dry 
above  his  main  lateral.  When  the  time  comes  in  which  he  finds  it 
will  be  profitable  to  expand  t*he  cultivated  portions  of  his  farm  and  to 
put  every  square  foot  under  irrigation,  then,  instead  of  supplying  the 
fields  he  wishes  to  water  from  his  main  ditch  (perhaps  passing  near 
by),  he  discovers  the  necessity  of  going  to  his  original  source  of  sup- 
ply and  building  another  ditch,  often  paralleling  his  main  laterals,  but 
on  higher  ground.  If  the  original  laterals  had  been  properly  located, 
instead  of  being  obliged  to  build  a  new  main  ditch  large  enough  to  carry 
a  sufficient  supply  for  his  whole  farm,  he  could  have  simply  extended 
sublaterals  from  the  main  laterals  already  commanding  his  farm  and 
proceeded  to  reclaim  whatever  part  he  wished  of  the  unbroken  area. 

In  Wyoming  and  northern  Colorado  many  an  irrigator  can  be  found 
who  realizes  the  advantage  of  having  his  laterals  laid  out  with  a  sur- 
veyor's level,  in  order  that  when  the  time  comes  to  construct  his 
ditches  they  may  command  the  greatest  area  at  the  least  cost  and  be 
permanent.  The  most  emphatic  advice  given  by  old  irrigators  is, 
"See  that  your  laterals  are  laid  out  to  the  best  advantage  at  the  outset 
and  that  your  fields  are  thoroughly  graded."  The  old  adage  that 
"  Work  once  well  done  is  twice  done"  can  be  applied  with  no  stronger 
significance  than  in  preparing  fields  for  irrigation. 


24 

COST. 

The  cost  of  preparing  land  for  irrigation  varies  with  the  condition 
of  the  ground  and  the  price  of  labor.  An  approximate  estimate, 
including  the  cost  of  removing  sagebrush,  plowing,  harrowing,  and 
grading,  has  been  made  from  information  obtained  from  farmers  in 
southern  and  middle  Wyoming.  The  cost  of  grubbing  sagebrush  is 
based  upon  the  supposition  that  one  man  can  grub  an  acre  a  day. 
The  contract  price  for  such  work  is  $1.50  an  acre,  based  upon  the  fact 
that  the  usual  wage  paid  farm  hands  in  Wyoming  is  $30  a  month  with 
board,  which  is  considered  equivalent  to  a  wage  of  $45  a  month. 

The  cost  of  grading  land  depends  upon  the  condition  of  the  surface, 
but,  after  thorough  plowing  and  harrowing,  $1  per  acre  for  grading 
would  probably  cover  the  cost  in  most  cases.  Thus  to  prepare  land 
for  irrigation  the  cost  would  sum  up  as  follows: 

Per  acre. 

Grubbing  sagebrush $1.  50 

Plowing 2.50 

Harrowing 50 

Grading 1 .  00 

Total 5.50 

PREPARING   LAND  FOR  IRRIGATION   IN  GALLATIN  VALLEY, 

MONTANA. 

In  the  Gallatin  Valley,  Montana,  the  greater  part  of  the  plowing  is 
done  in  the  fall  after  the  crop  is  harvested.  Ordinary  walking  plows, 
sulkies,  and  disk  plows  are  used.  Back  furrows  are  avoided,  if  possi- 
ble. In  the  spring  the  plowed  land  is  leveled,  harrowed,  and  seeded. 

LEVELING. 

A  number  of  different  devices  are  employed  to  reduce  the  surface 
to  an  even,  uniform  grade.  Some  of  these  are  homemade  and  cheap, 
while  others  are  controlled  by  patent  rights  and  are  more  costly.  Fig- 
ure 3  represents  one  of  the  homemade  land  graders.  Each  runner  is 
made  from  a  2  by  6  inch  joist,  16  feet  long,  and  is  bolted  to  another 
joist  of  the  same  size,  but  placed  2  inches  higher,  as  shown  in  "  Sec- 
tion on  AB"  in  the  figure.  The  draft  attachment,  bracing,  and  cross- 
bars, shod  with  steel,  are  also  fully  shown  in  the  drawings. 

To  finish  off  a  field  prior  to  seeding  and  give  it  a  smooth,  uniform 
grade  the  leveler  shown  in  figure  4  is  preferred.  The  framework  con- 
sists of  five  4  by  4  inch  timbers,  having  their  centers  raised  by  wheels 
13  inches  above  the  ground.  The  machine  is  12  feet  wide  and  7  feet 
long,  and  has  an  adjustable  steel-shod  share  11  feet  2  inches  long  and 
9  inches  deep.  This  implement,  when  operated  by  a  competent  man 
with  three  or  four  horses,  will  level  from  10  to  20  acres  in  a  day, 
providing  the  ground  is  tolerably  even.  Details  are  shown  by  the 
drawings. 


25 


When  the  surface  is  properly  graded  grain  may  be  sown  with  a  three 
or  four  horse  seeder.  In  this  work  eare  is  taken  to  have  the  drills  rufl 
in  a  direction  to  facilitate  the  distribution  of  water  between  the  field 
ditches,  since  the  water  readily  follows  the  drill  marks. 

In  the  Gallatin  Valley  a  cereal  crop  grows  until  the  plants  are 
about  6  inches  high  before  preparations  are  made  to  irrigate  it. 
In  average  seasons  the  seed  is  usually  in  the  ground  by  the  10th  of 
May  and  the  rainfall  during  May  and  June  in  that  locality  is  seldom 
less  than  5  inches  and 
is  often  as  high  as  7 
inches.  This  is  suffi- 
cient to  maintain  the 
vigor  of  the  plant  un- 
til it  attains  the  height 
named.  Cereals  are 
irrigated  for  the  first 
time  early  in  July. 
In  dry  seasons  the 
crops  begin  to  suffer 
in  June,  when  water 
must  be  applied,  al- 
though the  plants 
may  be  only  3  inches 
high.  The  better 
custom,  however, 
and  one  which  insures 
larger  yields,  is  to  de- 
fer irrigation  wher- 
ever possible  until 
the  plants  cover  the 
ground  fairly  well. 

ESTABLISHING  GRADES 
FOR  FIELD  DITCHES. 


LAND  GftADER 


2'*6'-/6'/g  O 


Sect / on  on  AB 


t 


f-~s  6o/e 


0 


/ran  htok.    fifo**  Q  (4  forOach  end) 

FIG.  3. — Homemade  land  grader. 


On  the  larger 
ranges  of  the  State 
field  ditches  or  lat- 
erals are  frequently 
laid  out  by  means  of  the  engineer's  level.  When  the  slope  of  a 
40-acre  field  does  not  exceed  80  feet  to  the  mile,  the  level  is  set  up 
in  a  position  to  command  the  upper  half.  The  front  chainman  carries 
a  leveling  rod  and  the  rear  chainman  a  long-handled  shovel.  Some- 
times the  chain  is  dispensed  with  and  the  distances  are  ascertained  by 
pacing. 

A  beginning  is  made  by  holding  the  rod  on  the  surface  of  the  ground 


at  the  highest  corner  of  the  field  and  next  to  the  supply  ditch.  The 
target  is  then  read  and  raised,  say  0.3  of  a  foot,  and  the  front  chain- 
man  stretches  the  chain  or  tape  to  its  full  length  of  100  feet  and 
endeavors  to  find  a  spot  of  the  right  elevation  to  suit  the  rod  reading. 
While  the  reading  is  being  taken  and  the  target  again  shifted  0.3  foot 


FIG.  4.— Leveler. 


higher  the  rear  cnainman  makes  a  mark  in  the  soil  with  his  shovel. 
The  driver  of  the  ditch  plow  follows  the  rear  chainman,  keeping  at 
least  200  feet  in  the  rear  of  the  latter,  and,  being  seated  on  a  sulky,  he 
can  look  ahead  and  improve  on  the  grade  location  marked  out  by  curv- 
ing the  ditch  in  order  to  have  fewer  sharp  bends. 


27 

A  grade  of  0.25  per  100  is  ample  for  fields  that  are  carefully  leveled, 
but  if  there  are  surface  irregularities  it  is  well  to  increase  the  grade 
to  0.3,  or  even  0.4,  per  100. 

The  homemade  level  shown  in  figure  5  is  pretty  generally  used 
throughout  the  Gallatin  Valley  to  locate  ditches  and  laterals.  It  is 
carried  by  one  man,  and  an  assistant  makes  marks,  as  in  the  former 
case,  with  a  shovel 
to  guide  the  driver 
of  the  ditcher  which 
follows  him.  The 
usual  grades  allowed 
are  from  i  to  f  of 

FIG.  5.— Homemade  level. 

an  inch  to  the  rod. 

In  the  majority  of  cases  no  instruments  are  used  to  locate  field 
ditches.  The  proprietor  of  an  irrigated  farm  becomes  in  time  famil- 
iar with  the  slopes  in  different  directions.  He  also  learns  from  his 
experience  in  irrigating  the  high  and  low  portions.  Possessing  such 
knowledge,  he  can  usually  locate  the  field  ditches  by  eye  and  thus  save 
considerable  trouble  and  expense.  The  inexperienced,  however, 
should  not  attempt  this  method. 

PREPARING  LAND  FOR  IRRIGATION  IN  NEBRASKA. 

The  leveling,  grading,  or  smoothing  of  fields  for  irrigation  has  been 
little  practiced  in  Nebraska.  The  natural  smoothness  and  uniformity 
of  the  prairies  has  made  it  possible  to  conduct  water  over  large  areas 
without  leveling.  Moreover,  under  a  majority  of  the  canals  in  the 
State  only  a  part  of  the  land  which  can  be  irrigated  has  water  applied 
to  it  regularly,  and  naturally  that  which  can  be  brought  under  irriga- 
tion with  the  least  preliminary  expense  is  first  used.  It  is  undoubt- 
edly true,  however,  that  in  many  instances  the  outlay  necessary  to 
smooth  the  surface  of  the  fields  would  have  been  more  than  repaid 
through  the  easier  distribution  of  the  water  and  increased  yield  of 
crops.  Tracts  which  lie  in  or  near  the  sand-hill  region  frequently 
abound  in  humps  or  small  hillocks,  which  hinder  the  even  and  effective 
distribution  of  the  water.  Many  of  the  irrigated  tracts  are  also  dotted 
by  small,  shallow  depressions  said  to  be  old  buffalo  wallows.  These 
depressions  catch  and  hold  the  water  which  reaches  them  either  in 
irrigation  or  from  rainfall,  and  the  drowning  of  the  crop  results.  A 
few  such  fields  have  been  smoothed,  but  they  are  small  and  scattered; 
so  that  no  practice  has  been  established,  and  representative  figures 
relating  to  cost  can  not  be  secured.  Work  has  been  done  on  some 
fields  in  the  Platte  Valley  to  the  extent  of  from  $1  to  $5  per  acre. 


28 

METHODS  OF  APPLYING  WATER. 

METHODS  IN  USE  IN  CALIFORNIA. 

THE    CHECK    SYSTEM. 

Flooding  crops  in  checks  or  compartments  has  been  practiced  in 
various  forms  from  the  earliest  antiquity.  It  is  still  a  common  method 
of  applying  water  in  many  of  the  irrigated  regions  of  Asia,  Africa,  and 
Europe,  and  was  introduced  into  western  United  States  by  the  Span- 
iards, Mexicans,  and  Mexican  Indians.  On  the  banks  of  the  Rio 
Grande  in  New  Mexico  and  elsewhere  in  the  Southwest  one  still  sees 
crops  of  grain,  alfalfa,  and  vegetables  grown  and  irrigated  in  small 
rectangular  check  beds.  The  small  areas  inclosed  and  the  low  banks 
which  form  the  boundaries  closely  resemble  the  basins  in  irrigated 
orchards.  There  may  be  from  10  to  50  check  beds  on  a  single  acre, 
and  the  manner  of  flooding  the  check  beds  is  much  the  same  as  that 
described  in  basin  irrigation. 

Californians,  in  adopting  this  foreign  mode  of  irrigation,  introduced 
many  changes  to  adapt  it  to  American  ways  of  farming.  Strong 
teams,  heavy  plows,  and  large  scrapers  were  substituted  for  the  hoe, 
spade,  and  mattock  of  the  Mexicans.  The  owners  of  these  farms 
and  outfits  had  also  large  ideas  of  how  land  should  be  prepared  for 
irrigation.  In  their  opinion  the  small  check  bed,  20  by  40  feet,  sur- 
rounded by  a  10-inch  bank,  might  do  very  well  to  water  Mexican 
chili,  but  alfalfa  fields,  farmed  on  a  big  scale,  required  to  be  prepared 
in  a  wholly  different  manner.  These  men,  accordingly,  went  from 
one  extreme  to  the  other.  From  checks  containing  the  one-twentieth 
of  an  acre  they  increased  the  size  to  10,  20,  and  30  acres  in  each  check. 
These  large  checks  have  "proved  failures  from  the  start.  The  farmers 
who  adopted  this  style  years  ago  have  had  no  end  of  trouble  in  lower- 
ing the  levees  and  reducing  the  size  of  the  checks. 

The  checks  of  from  2  to  5  acres,  which  the  farmers  around  Bakers- 
field  considered  about  the  proper  size  twenty  years  ago,  are  now 
thought  to  be  too  large.  There  are,  of  course,  conditions  in  which 
large  checks  may  be  used  to  good  purpose.  When,  for  example,' the 
slope  of  the  land  is  slight  and  the  volume  of  water  which  may  be 
turned  into  the  supply  ditch  is  large,  there  mignt  be  a  small  saving 
in  having  eight  checks  instead  of  60  in  a  40-acre  tract.  However, 
this  slight  saving  in  the  first  cost  of  preparing  the  land  is  soon  lost 
in  the  waste  of  water,  unequal  distribution,  and  consequent  lessened 
yields. 

Mr.  Steve  Luin,  superintendent  of  the  Madera  Canal  and  Irrigation 
Company,  advocates  in  the  strongest  manner  a  reduction  of  the  present 
checks,  which  vary  from  3  to  5  acres,  to  about  1£  acres  on  all  the 
10,500  acres  irrigated  by  that  canal.  At  present  the  usual  custom 


29 

throughout  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  is  to  limit  the  checks  to  an  average 
of  about  three-fourths  of  an  acre. 

As  regards  arid  America,  the  check  s\Tstem  of  irrigation  is  confined 
principally  at  the  present  time  to  the  San  Joaquin  Valley.  It  is  also 
used  in  irrigating  the  rice  fields  of  Louisiana  and  Texas,a  and  a  modi- 
fication of  the  same  system  is  to  be  found  on  the  alfalfa  fields  of 
Arizona  and  in  the  Imperial  Valley  in  southeastern  California. 

There  are  several  reasons  why  irrigation  by  checks  should  be  so 
popular  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley.  The  soil  in  many  parts  is  porous, 
containing  a  high  percentage  of  fine  sand.  In  such  districts  it  is 
doubtful  if  any  other  method  of  applying  water  would  be  so  success- 
ful. As  a  rule,  the  slope  is  also  slight,  which  enables  the  farmer  to 
form  check  after  check  with  only  a  few  inches  of  difference  in  eleva- 
tion. It  is  due,  however,  to  the  character  of  the  streams  which  fur- 
nish the  water  supply  for  the  valley  that  the  check  system  is  so 
generally  used.  These  streams  head  in  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains, 
where  the  precipitation,  particularly  in  the  form  of  snow,  is  heavy 
and  they  are  all  subject  to  floods  in  the  spring.  After  these  spring 
floods  subside,  the  flow  is  often  extremely  low,  owing  to  tne  small 
catchment  area,  the  lack  of  summer  rains,  and  the  excessive  evapora- 
tion. Irrigation  works  have  accordingly  to  be  planned  to  take  care 
of  a  large  volume  of  water  during  the  spring  months.  The  Tuolumne 
River,  to  cite  a  somewhat  extreme  case,  frequently  discharges  enough 
water  to  cover  20,000  acres  a  foot  deep  in  a  single  day  in  May,  while 
the  total  discharge  for  the  month  of  August  may  be  little  more  than 
this.  In  great  fluctuations  of  this  nature  not  only  must  the  canal 
engineer  and  superintendent  adapt  their  structures  to  carry  large  vol- 
umes, but  the  irrigate  r  is  under  the  same  necessity  to  form  his  checks, 
sluice  boxes,  and  lateral  ditches  in  such  a  way  as  to  accommodate 
large  volumes  for  short  periods  of  time.  There  is  no  other  system 
practiced  in  the  West  which  enables  one  man  to  handle  from  10  to  20 
cubic  feet  per  second  without  assistance  and  with  little  waste. 

LAYING   OUT   CHECKS. 

The  plan  followed  in  laying  out  checks  differs  more  or  less  in  each 
district  and  on  neighboring  farms.  It  is  seldom  that  two  engineers  or 
surveyors  adopt  the  same  methods.  In  the  description  which  follows 
there  has  been  given  in  a  general  way  and  with  some  changes  the  plan 
followed  by  Mr.  F.  E.  Smith,  of  Ceres,  Cal. 

One  man  is  equipped  with  an  ordinary  engineer's  level,  another  with 
a  leveling  rod,  and  a  third,  if  he  is  available,  carries  a  hatchet  and 
stakes  or  else  a  long-handled  shovel.  The  instrument  man,  by  taking 

«TJ.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Office  of  Experiment  Stations  Bui.  113,  Irrigation  of  Rice  in  the 
United  States. 


30 


rod  readings  at  different  points  of  the  field,  gains  a  general  knowledge 
of  the  high  and  low  places  as  well  as  the  different  slopes.  He  then 
sets  up  his  level  to  command  the  upper  end  of  the  field,  which  we  shall 
assume  contains  40  acres,  and  sends  the  rodman  to  the  highest  corner, 
where  be  drives  a  stake  flush  with  the  average  ground  surface  and 
takes  a  reading.  It  is  well  to  locate  this  starting  point  by  a  witness 
stake,  on  which  is  written  the  assumed  elevation,  so  that  this  bench 

can  be  readily  found 
when  needed  to 
checklevels.  If 
3-inch  contours  are 

|i *'       .'     \       \     :      .•       f .••"        .1    desired,  the  rodman 

f. *'        }         •     :    .*      /      ...--'"'•*"'   raises  the  target  5.2 

J,  •••""          *'     :  :     •'*  ..'i    feet    and    proceeds 

r:--':::." ::::::: '-V  / 1 .- 


^j 


FIG.  6.— Contour  lines. 


from  the  high  cor- 
ner down  one  of  the 
margins  of  the  field 
until  the  level  line 
from  the  instrument 

again  intersects  the  middle  of  the  target,  where  a  stake  is  driven  to 
mark  the  beginning  of  the  first  contour.  The  rodman  then  proceeds 
with  clamped  rod  to  locate  the  first  contour  by  shifting  the  rod  from 
place  to  place  at  intervals  of,  say,  30  paces  until  the  target  is  on  a  level 
with  the  instrument.  These  points  on  the  contour  may  be  marked  by 
small  piles  of  dirt  or  by  temporary  stakes.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  follow 
the  rodman,  keeping  about  200  feet  in  his  rear,  with  some  sort  of  ditch 
plow  which  marks 
each  contour  by  a 
furrow.  A  walking 
plow  is  not  suitable 
for  this  purpose, 
since  the  plowman 
must  be  elevated  in 
order  to  see  over  the 
horses  and  improve 
on  the  line  indicated 
by  the  stakes,  or 
marks,  by  rounding- 
out  the  angles.  In  like  manner  other  contours  are  laid  out  until  the 
40-acre  tract  presents  the  appearance  shown  in  figure  6. 

The  next  task  is  to  subdivide  the  space  between  the  contours  into 
checks  of  suitable  size  and  provide  for  the  location  of  boundary  and 
field  ditches  to  convey  water  to  each  check.  No  hard  and  fast  rule  can 
be  laid  down  for  the  arrangement  of  the  ditches.  The  field  under  con- 
sideration may  be  subdivided  as  shown  in  figure  7,  in  which  the  double 
lines  in-^cate  the  ditches  and  single  lines  levees.  This  40-acre  tract 


FJG.  7.— Contour  checks. 


31 


would  thus  contain  about  40  checks.  If  conditions  were  favorable 
and  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  have  the  checks  contain  on  an  average 
2  acres  instead  of  1,  the  same  diagram  would  apply  to  an  80-acre  tract. 

Many  farmers  prefer  to  go  to  extra  expense  and  to  handle  more 
surface  earth  in  order  to  have  rectangular  checks.  Figure  8  shows  the 
same  field  laid  out  in  rectangular  checks  as  nearly  uniform  in  size  as 
the  nature  of  the  ground  will  permit. 

In  building  the  levees  around  the  checks  scrapers  are  generally  used. 
All  high  parts  within  each  check  are  first  scraped  down  and  the  mate- 
rial thus  obtained  is  dumped  along  the  levees.  The  balance  of  the 
earth  required  to  complete  the  banks  is  obtained  from  the  highest 
parts  of  the  interior  of  the  checks,  which  leaves  this  space  quite  rough, 
but  fairly  level. 

The  field  is  then  plowed  and  harrowed  in  the  usual  way  and  the  seed 
sown.  The  time  of  sowing  alfalfa  extends  from  November  to  April, 
but  in  the  central  part  of  the  valley  many  prefer  the  first  week  in 
March.  The  soil  is  then  moist  from  winter  rains  and  no  irrigation  is 
necessary  until  the 
plants  cover  the 
ground.  From  20 
to  25  pounds  of  seed 
are  sown  to  the  acre 
without  any  nurse 
crop. 

After  plowing  and 
before  seeding  the 
levees  should  be  well 
harrowed  arid  in 
some  cases  dragged 
down  so  as  to  present  the  appearance  of  low  embankments  having  a 
wide  base.  In  nine  cases  out  of  every  ten  the  sides  of  the  levees  are 
left  too  steep.  The  width  of  the  base  of  a  levee,  as  a  rule,  should  be 
eight  times  the  height  of  the  crest.  Thus  a  levee  9  inches  high  should 
have  a  base  width  of  6  feet.  The  height  depends  on  the  difference  in 
elevation  of  the  contour  lines  and  the  depth  of  water  to  be  applied 
in  one  irrigation.  With  4-inch  contours  when  completed  and  settled 
the  levees  are  usually  9  inches  high.  This  leaves  a  margin  of  safety 
between  the  surface  of  water  in  the  check  and  the  top  of  the  levee, 
providing  the  depth  of  water  applied  does  not  exceed  6  inches,  since 
a  portion  of  the  water  is  absorbed  by  the  dry  soil  before  the  check  is 
filled. 


FIG.  8.— Rectangular  checks. 


CHECK    OR   SLUICE   BOXES. 


The  check  or  sluice  boxes,  through  which  the  water  is  admitted  into 
the  checks,  vary  in  width  from  1  foot  to  10  feet.  They  are  rectangular 
boxes  passing  through  the  earth  embankments,  and  so  arranged  that 


32 


FIG.  9  —Check  box.    Section  across  length  at  bottom  of  page,  section  across  side  in  middle,  and 
longitudinal  section  showing  floor  at  top. 


33 


flashboards  can  be  readily  and  quickly  inserted  and  withdrawn.  The 
boxes  must  be  water-tight,  inexpensive,  and  so  made  and  placed  as 
not  to  obstruct  farm  implements. 

The  sketch  in  figure  9  was  made  from  a  medium-sized  box  which  was 
designed  and  used  by  Mr.  Joshua  Cowell,  of  Manteca,  Cal. 

Figure  10  shows  a  cheaper  box  which  is  common  in  Stanislaus 
County. 


FLOODING    CHECKS. 


T 


Many  of  the  canals  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  are  operated  in  a  manner 
to  meet  the  needs  of  the  check  system.  Instead  of  delivering  a  small 
stream  for  a  long  period,  the  practice  is  to  deliver  a  large  volume  of 
water  for  a  short  period.  On  land  that  is  checked  one  man  can  handle, 

as  a  rule,  four  times 
as  much  water  as  he 
can  in  flooding  from 
field  ditches.  Un- 
der this  system  a 
flow  of  10  cubic  feet 
per  second  is  not  un- 
usual for  a  40-acre 
tract  of  alfalfa;  and 
since  this  amount 
would  cover  a  farm 
of  this  size  6  inches 
deep  in  twenty-four 
hours,  the  time  re- 
quired for  one  irri- 
gation is  usually 
brief.  On  sandy 
soil,  where  the  sur- 
face is  checked,  a 
large  volume  is 
much  the  best.  The 
space  inclosed  in  each  check  can  then  be  rapidly  flooded  and  the  water 
evenly  distributed.  In  admitting  small  streams  to  a  check  much  is 
absorbed  at  the  entrance  end,  the  distribution  is  not  uniform,  and  a 
larger  percentage  is  lost  by  evaporation  and  seepage. 

COST   OF   CHECKING   LAND. 

The  owner  of  an  irrigated  farm  can  prepare  the  surface,  providing 
he  has  the  necessary  teams  and  implements,  for  much  less  money  than 
it  will  cost  to  hire  it  done.  Work  of  this  nature  is  usually  done  dur- 
ing the  winter  months  in  California.  Field  labor  on  the  farm  can  be 
performed  with  more  comfort  in  January  and  February  in  the  San 
Joaquin  Valley  than  it  can  in  May  in  the  State  of  Illinois.  A  farmer 


FIG.  10. — Check  box,  showing  section  across  embankment  at  top  and 
lengthwise  of  bank  at  bottom. 


34 

who  is  fairly  well  provided  with  help  and  teams  can  check  his  land 
with  only  a  small  cash  outlay  for  lumber  to  build  check  boxes. 
Those  who  are  obliged  to  contract  for  the  work  pay  from  $7.50  to  $20 
per  acre.  The  various  items  of  cost  are  shown  in  the  accompanying 
table  of  prices,  submitted  by  Mr.  Joshua  Cowell,  of  Manteca,  Cal. 
Mr.  Cowell  has  had  a  wide  experience  in  this  kind  of  work,  and  his 
figures  aim  to  represent  average  prices  as  they  existed  in  1900.  The 
estimate  also  includes  the  price  of  alfalfa  seed  in  the  ground. 

Estimated  cost  of  checking  and  preparing  W  acres  for  irrigation. 

Scraping  with  scrapers,  4  horses,  48  days,  at  $4 $192. 00 

Plowing  for  scrapers,  2  horses,  7?  days,  at  $3 22. 50 

Surveying  contour  checks,  3  days,  at  $4  per  day 12.  00 

For  4-foot  check  boxes,  No.  2,  redwood  lumber,  1,666  feet,  at 

$24  per  1,000  feet 40.00 

Labor  and  hardware  for  boxes 25. 00 

Six-horse  team,  plowing,  5  days,  at  $5 25. 00 

Four-horse  team,  harrowing,  2£  days,  at  $4 10.  00 

320  pounds  of  alfalfa,  at  10  cents 32.00 

Sowing,  Hdays,  at  $2 3.00 

Total r 361.50 

Average  cost  per  acre 18. 08 

The  figures  given  in  the  following  estimate  of  cost  represent  the 
actual  amounts  expended  by  Mr.  S.  Richardson,  of  Tulare,  Cal.,  in 
checking  and  seeding  160  acres  in  Tulare  County.  It  will  be  noted 
that  the  cost  of  the  check  boxes  is  not  included. 

Cost  of  checking  and  seeding  160  acres. 

Survey  (main  laterals  only) $7.  50 

Labor,  at  $1.15  per  day,  and  board 435.  33 

Teams  (mules,  at  50  cents  a  span  per  day) 294. 00 

Provisions,  feed,  etc 156. 87 

Lumber,  for  head  gate,  on  main  laterals  only 60. 00 

Repairs  on  tools 15. 84 

Plowing 155.00 

Alfalfa  seed,  10  pounds  per  acre,  at  11  cents 170. 50 

Water  rental 230.00 

Cost  of  irrigating  (twice) 68. 00 


Total 1,593.04. 

Average  cost  per  acre 9. 96 

Average  size  of  checks,  about  f  acre. 

Assuming  that  two  men,  each  working  12-hour  shifts,  will  irrigate 
on  an  average  15  acres  per  day,  and  that  their  wages,  board,  and  imple- 
ments cost  the  owner  $5  a  day,  the  cost  of  one  irrigation  per  acre  would 
be  33^  cents.  Mr.  Richardson's  expense  for  this  was  slightly  more. 

THE    BORDER   METHOD. 

A  modification  of  the  check  system  as  used  in  the  Imperial  Valley 
of  southeastern  California  is  described  on  the  next  page.  A  similar 


35 

method  of  preparing  land  and  applying  water  is  practiced  in  the 
alfalfa  fields  of  Arizona  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Stockton,  Cal.  The 
prominent  features  of  this  method  are  a  large  head  ditch  and  the  divi- 
sion of  the  field  into  long,  narrow  strips,  by  borders  of  earth.  These 
low  ridges,  or  borders,  serve  to  confine  the  water  within  each  strip  as 
it  slowly  traverses  the  field  from  top  to  bottom. 

In  Imperial  Valley  the  soil  consists  mainly  of  fine  sediment,  and  the 
slope  of  the  surface  varies  from  1  to  5  feet  per  mile.  The  rectangular 
checks  are  laid  off  with  the  long  side  in  the  direction  of  the  steepest 
slope.  These  checks  are  from  60  to  100  feet  wide  and  from  one-eighth 
to  one-fourth  of  a  mile  long.  A  feed  ditch  is  built  at  right  angles  to 
the  long  side  of  the  checks,  and  a  wooden  box  is  inserted  in  the  ditch 
bank  to  supply  water  to  each  check. 

The  wing  plow  is  most  frequently  used  to  make  the  borders,  or 
levees.  This  implement  differs  from  the  ordinary  plow  only  in  having 
a  large  curved  moldboard  to  throw  the  dirt  farther. 

Where  the  slope  is  excessive  or  very  irregular  contour  checks  are 
used.  The  fall  between  contours  is  usually  3  inches.  Contour  basins 
inclose  an  area  of  from  3  to  20  acres.  These  large  basins,  whether 
rectangular  or  curved  according  to  contour  lines,  while  possessing 
some  advantages,  can  not  be  recommended.  The  chief  objections  to 
such  basins  and  the  manner  of  flooding  them  may  be  summed  up  as 
follows: 

(1)  A  large  head  of  water  is  necessary. 

(2)  A  large  stream  often  removes  the  soil  from  the  upper  end  and 
deposits  it  over  the  crops  at  the  lower  end  of  a  basin,  the  results  at 
both  ends  being  injurious. 

(3)  In  order  to  cover  the  higher  portions,  too  much  water  is  fre- 
quently used  on  the  lower  portions,  thereby  damaging  both  crop  and 
soil. 

(4)  There  is  great  waste  in  attempting  to  spread  water  over  so  large 
a  surface. 

(5)  A  temporary  lake  is  formed  at  the  lower  end  of  the  basin;  or 
else  the  water  enters  the  drainage  ditch,  which,  in  consequence,  must 
be  large. 

(6)  The  distribution  is  not  uniform,  the  high  spots  receiving  too 
little  water  and  the  low  spots  too  much. 

The  remedy  for  these  defects  can  be  readily  applied.  It  consists, 
in  brief,  in  forming  smaller  checks.  This  would,  of  course,  increase 
the  cost  for  the  first  year,  but  the  gain  in  subsequent  years  would 
much  more  than  pay  for  additional  expense. 

FURROW   IRRIGATION. 

There  are  few  irrigated  farms  in  Western  America  where  furrow 
irrigation  in  one  form  or  another  is  not  practiced.  In  regions  devoted 


36 

chiefly  to  the  production  of  fruit  it  is  usualty  the  most  common  mode 
of  irrigation.  In  other  colder  regions,  where  the  staple  crops  are 
grain  and  hay,  it  is  mostly  confined  to  root  crops,  vegetables,  and 
small  orchards. 

FURROW   IRRIGATION   FROM    EARTHEN    DITCHES. 

Briefly  described,  the  most  inexpensive,  inefficient,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  the  most  common  method  of  furrow  irrigation  is  from  earthen 
ditches.  A  small  ditch,  often  parallel  and  adjacent  to  a  permanent 
ditch,  extends  across  the  upper  boundaiy  of  the  tract  to  be  irrigated. 
In  one  embankment  of  this  small  ditch  openings  are  made  with  a  long- 
handled  shovel,  and  the  water  conveyed  by  the  ditch  issues  through 
these  openings  and  flows  down  the  furrows.  Theoretically  this  is  all 
that  is  required  for  proper  distribution,  but  in  practice  there  are  diffi- 
culties that  can  not  be  successfully  overcome.  It  is  impossible,  for 
instance,  to  divide  an  irrigation  stream  equally  among  a  large  number 
of  furrows  by  such  means.  This  is  shown  in  Plate  III,  figure  1,  in  an 
attempt  to  divide  water  between  the  rows  of  sweet  potatoes.  A  skilled 
irrigator  ma}7  adjust  the  size  and  depth  of  the  openings  so  as  to  secure 
a  fairly  uniform  flow,  but  constant  attention  is  required  in  order  to 
maintain  it.  If  the  water  is  permitted  to  flow  for  half  an  hour  unat- 
tended the  distribution  is  likely  to  become  unequal.  The  banks  of  the 
temporary  ditch  absorb  water  and  become  soft,  and  as  the  water  rushes 
through  the  openings  erosion  enlarges  them,  permitting  larger  dis- 
charges and  lowering  the  general  level  of  the  water  in  the  ditch  so  that 
other  openings  may  have  no  discharge.  Even  if  it  were  possible  to 
divide  the  flow  of  the  ditch  equally  between  a  certain  number  of  fur- 
rows the  difficulty  would  not  be  overcome,  because  the  number  of 
divisions  would  invariably  be  too  small.  In  using  such  crude  methods 
it  is  difficult  to  divide  a  stream  of,  say,  40  miner's  inches  into  more 
than  about  10  equal  parts;  but  good  practice  frequently  calls  for  a  flow 
in  each  furrow  of  from  one-fifth  to  three-fourths  of  a  miner's  inch, 
which  can  not  be  secured  by  this  method. 

In  irrigating  such  crops  as  corn,  potatoes,  sugar  beets,  and  vegeta- 
bles, all  of  which  are  planted  in  rows,  the  usual  practice  is  to  make 
furrows  midway  between  the  rows  with  a  light  plow  or  cultivator. 
Openings  are  then  made  in  the  ditch  bank  at  the  head  of  each  furrow. 
Sometimes,  however,  one  opening  feeds  two  or  more  furrows.  The 
latter  is  the  common  practice  when  the  head  ditch  is  permanent. 
Before  water  is  admitted  to  the  furrows  on  the  strip  to  be  irrigated  a 
check  dam  is  placed  in  the  head  ditch  opposite  the  lowest  furrow  of  the 
strip.  The  check  dam  may  consist  of  earth  or  of  manure  and  earth 
combined,  but  it  is  more  likely  to  be  a  canvas  dam  or  some  one  of  the 
many  kinds  of  tappoons.  The  purpose  of  this  check  is  to  hold  the 
water  in  the  head  ditch  at  the  desired  elevation  and  to  distribute  the 


U.  S.  Dept  of  Agr.,  Bui,  145,  Office  of  Expt.  Stations.     Irrigation  Investigations. 


PLATE  III. 


FIQ.  1.— FURROW  IRRIGATION  OF  SWEET  POTATOES. 


FIG.  2.— IMPLEMENT  FOR  MAKING  FURROWS  IN  ORANGE  ORCHARD. 


37 


flow  between  the  furrows.  The  number  of  furrows  which  should 
receive  water  at  one  time  will  depend  on  the  crop,  the  volume  of  water 
in  the  head  ditch,  and  the  smoothness  and  texture  of  the  soil.  With 
the  crude  appliances  of  this  method  constant  attention  is  required  in 
order  to  distribute  the  water  somewhat  equally  among  the  furrows 
and  to  see  that  the  stream  flows  down  each  furrow  without  damming 
and  flooding  a  portion  of  the  crop.  As  soon  as  the  soil  is  sufficiently 
dry  the  furrows  are  filled  in  and  the  space  between  the  rows  cultivated. 

Figure  11  shows  a  sketch  of  the  "  V  "  scraper  or  ' '  crowder. "  This  is 
one  of  the  most  convenient  and  serviceable  homemade  implements  for 
making  head  ditches,  whether  permanent  or  temporary.  In  the  sketch 
shown  the  shorter  arm  is  hinged  to  the  longer  and  the  "  V"  can  be 
adjusted  to  suit  ditches  of  different  sizes. 

Some  consideration  is  given  to  the  best  way  of  watering  a  field  at 
the  time  of  planting.  If  the  steepest  slope  is  likely  to  cause  erosion, 
the  rows  are  run 
diagonally.  When 
the  surface  is  roll- 
ing, the  rows,  par- 
ticularly if  they  con- 
sist of  fruit  trees, 
follow  the  contours 
on  the  desired  grade. 

In  this  kind  of 
furrow  irrigation 
one  man  will  irri- 
gate from  2  to  6 
acres  in  a  day,  and 
the  cost  of  one  irri- 
gation, including  the  making  of  furrows  and  head  ditches,  will  vary 
from  about  50  cents  to  $1.50  per  acre. 

THE   USE    OF   SHORT   TUBES   IN    FURROW    IRRIGATION. 

In  furrow  irrigation  as  ordinarily  practiced  one  of  the  worst  defects, 
as  has  been  already  stated,  is  th6  difficulty  of  dividing  a  stream  equally 
among  a  large  number  of  furrows.  A  simple  remedy,  which  is  both 
cheap  and  effective,  is  described  below,  and  its  general  adoption  in  all 
sections  of  the  West  where  no  better  appliances  are  in  use  is  recom- 
mended. Short  tubes  or  boxes  are  inserted  in  the  lower  bank  of  the 
head  ditch  a  trifle  below  the  surface  of  the  water  and  each  tube  fur- 
nishes a  supply  for  one  or  more  furrows.  In  permanent  ditches  with 
a  clearly  defined  high-water  mark  the  boxes  are  placed  at  the  same 
distance  below  this  mark;  but  in  a  new  ditch,  where  there  is  no  such 
mark,  the  boxes  may  be  placed  so  that  the  bottom  of  the  openings  will 
be  slightly  above  the  bottom  of  the  ditch.  The  flow  is  rendered  fairly 


FIG.  11.— Adjustable  "V"  scraper  or  crowder. 


38 

constant  by  means  of  a  small  gate  at  the  upper  end  of  each  tube.  The 
tubes  are  usually  made  of  wood,  are  from  12  to  36  inches  long  and 
nearly  square  in  section,  while  the  area  of  the  opening  left  for  the 
passage  of  water  varies  from  1  to  20  square  inches.  In  some  localities 
short  lengths  of  discarded  pipes  from  1  to  2  inches  in  diameter  are 
used. 

Figure  12  represents  a  common  form  of  tube,  which  was  designed  by 
Mr.  B.  F.  Knapp,  of  Mountainview,  Cal.  It  is  made  of  four  pieces  of 
f  by  3f  inch  redwood  boards  14  inches  long,  nailed  together  in  such  a 
way  as  to  leave  an  opening  2i  inches  wide  and  3f  inches  high.  On 
one  end  of  this  box  a  sheet  of  galvanized  iron  4  by  5  inches  and  about 
No.  22  in  weight  is  fastened  by  means  of  a  leather  washer  and  a  6- 
penny  wire  nail.  The  flow  of  water  through  a  box  is  regulated  by 
means  of  this  plate,  which  revolves  around  the  nail.  The  boxes  were 
made  and  used  by  Mr.  Knapp  to  irrigate  his  peach,  apricot,  and 

prune  orchards  in 
the  vicinity  of  Moun- 
tainview. The  water 
supply  is  obtained 
from  a  pumping 
plant,  with  a  capacity 
of  1,000  gallons  per 
minute,  located  in 
the  orchard.  Ordi- 
nary ditches  in  earth 

FIG.  12.— Tube  for  diverting  water  to  furrows.  extend       from        the 

pumping  plant  to  the  upper  boundaries  of  the  various  orchard  tracts, 
and  the  boxes  are  used  to  divide  the  water  equally  among  a  large 
number  of  furrows. 

Mr.  Knapp  prefers  deep  to  shallow  furrows  and  uses  a  smaller 
number  between  the  rows  of  trees  than  would  be  required  if  they 
were  shallow.  These  furrows  are  made  with  a  double  moldboard 
plow  attached  to  a  sulky  frame.  This  implement  loosens  the  soil 
to  a  depth  of  10  inches  and  makes  a  large  and  well-defined  furrow. 
When  it  is  desired  to  loosen  the  subsoil  of  the  orchard  and  allow 
the  irrigation  water  to  penetrate  the  soil  to  a  considerable  depth  a 
subsoiler  made  by  the  local  blacksmith  is  attached  to  the  plow 
and  also  to  the  sulky  frame.  This  combination  loosens  the  soil  to 
a  depth  of  15  inches.  Water  turned  into  furrows  of  that  charac- 
ter is  speedily  and  readily  distributed  to  the  deeper  roots  of  the 
tree  without  any  appreciable  loss  by  evaporation.  Soon  after  the 
water  is  applied  the  soil  is  smoothed  over  with  a  spring-toothed 
harrow.  When  the  boxes  are  properly  set  and  the  furrows  run,  the 
work  of  irrigating  is  much  less  than  by  the  common  method  and  not 


39 

more  difficult  than  when  costly  appliances  are  used.  With  the  com- 
paratively large  boxes  herein  described  the  water  may  be  divided  with 
fair  accuracy  among  from  10  to  100  furrows  by  properly  controlling 
the  openings. 

At  the  time  of  the  writer's  visit  to  the  locality,  July  31,  1903,  two 
men  were  irrigating  a  28-acre  field  of  sugar  beets  on  an  adjacent  farm 
with  boxes  loaned  by  Mr.  Knapp.  The  water  was  conveyed  from 
Mr.  Knapp's  pumping  plant  through  an  8-inch  canvas  pipe  and  deliv- 
ered at  a  corner  of  the  field  of  sugar  beets.  From  there  it  was  car- 
ried in  rather  a  steep  supply  ditch  across  the  end  of  the  field.  The 
volume  carried  was  about  60  miner's  inches  and  was  divided  among 
about  half  as  many  rows  of  beets.  One  man  inserted  the  checks  and 
the  boxes  and  the  other  looked  after  the  distribution  of  the  water  in 
the  field.  While  the  water  was  retained  by  one  canvas  dam  a  second 
canvas  dam  was  inserted  50  to  100  feet  below,  the  distance  depending 
on  the  grade,  and  a  box  was  placed  opposite  each  furrow.  When  the 
beets  were  irrigated  as  far  as  the  first  dam  it  was  removed  to  a  point 
below  the  second  one  and  the  operation  of  putting  in  boxes  and 
irrigating  repeated.  An  extra  supply  of  boxes  was  kept  on  hand,  so 
that  there  was  no  necessity  to  use  other  than  dry  boxes. 

In  the  nurseries  at  Fresno,  Cal. ,  a  similar  device  is  used  in  irrigating 
nursery  stock.  The  stock  is  set  out  in  rows  4  feet  apart  and  seldom 
more  than  500  feet  long.  A  furrow  from  3  to  4  inches  deep  is  made 
on  each  side  of  a  row  of  young  trees  and  about  9  inches  from  their 
base  with  a  small  walking  plow  drawn  by  one  horse.  Water  is  con- 
veyed to  the  nurseries  in  ordinary  earthen  channels,  but  the  distribu- 
tion is  made  by  small  wooden  boxes  made  of  common  pine  lath.  The 
opening  is  so  small  that  there  is  no  need  of  a  gate.  One  of  these  lath 
boxes  placed  with  its  center  2  inches  below  the  surface  of  the  water  in 
the  supply  ditch  would  discharge  0.7  miner's  inch;  if  placed  3  inches 
below  the  surface,  |;  and  if  4  inches,  a  trifle  more  than  1  miner's 
inch.  The  practice  on  the  orchard  referred  to  is  to  place  them  about 
2  inches  below  the  surface  and  to  divide  this  stream  equally  between 
two  furrows.  It  requires  about  twelve'  hours  for  this  small  stream, 
0.35  miner's  inch,  to  reach  the  foot  of  the  rows,  500  feet  distant. 
The  cost  of  each  tube  in  place  does  not  exceed  3  cents.  The  nur- 
sery stock  is  irrigated  every  two  weeks  from  June  to  September, 
inclusive. 

Similar  tubes  are  used  on  many  of  the  navel-orange  orchards  of 
Tulare  County,  Cal.  Some  few  orchards  were  also  noticed  where 
short  pipes  supplied  the  place  of  the  wooden  boxes.  These  pipes  are 
usually  1^  inches  in  diameter  and  about  24  inches  long,  and  are 
inserted  in  the  lower  bank  of  a  temporary  ditch.  The  water  is  held 
at  the  desired  elevation  in  these  temporary  ditches  by  earth  dams, 


40 

and   water   passes   from   one   division   to   another  through    a  short 
length  of  6-inch  pipe  which  is  built  into  the  earth  dam. 

These  homemade  devices  for  regulating  the  flow  in  furrows  may  be 
adapted  to  any  size  of  furrow.  The  box  first  described  has  an  opening 
of  nearly  8.5  square  inches  and,  if  placed  with  its  center  4  inches 
below  the  surface,  would  discharge  7.5  miner's  inches  under  a  6-inch 
pressure.  Such  boxes  are  intended  for  large  furrows.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  small  lath  box  just  described  is  intended  for  small  furrows. 
The  discharge  of  a  tube  can  be  controlled  by  a  gate  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  suit  any  furrow. 

The  appliances  recommended  are  all  cheap.  Farmers'  boys  can 
make  them  during  the  winter  months.  There  is  usually  enough  lum- 
ber lying  around  the  farm  buildings  to  provide  boxes  for  a  10-acre 
tract.  This  suggests  that  western  boys  who  live  on  irrigated  farms 
should  practice  carpentry  in  learning  to  make  some  of  these  boxes, 
and  next  spring,  when  the  vegetable  garden  needs  waterr  try  the  new 
way.  Figure  13  shows  the  construction  of  such  boxes.  They  are  made 
of  i  by  2  inch  lumber,  dressed  on  both  sides  and  edges.  The  top  piece 

is  cut  back  three-fourths  of 
an  inch  and  a  metal  slide  op- 
erated in  saw  kerfs  is  shown. 
When  this  box  is  placed  with 
its  center  5  inches  below  the 
surface  the  discharge  will  be 
2  miner's  inches. 


THE   USE    OF    FLUMES    AND    PIPES     IN 
FURROW    IRRIGATION. 

In  irrigating  the  more  valu- 
able varieties  of  fruit  trees, 
such  as  oranges,  by  the  fur- 

FIG.  13.— Tube  for  lateral  bank.  .      ,     .,    . 

row  method,  it  is  customary 

to  carry  the  water  to  the  upper  ends  of  the  furrows  in  flumes  or  pipes. 
Flumes  for  this  purpose  were  formerly  made  of  wood,  but  the  short 
life  of  lumber  in  contact  with  the  soil  has  led  many  orchardists  to  sub- 
stitute more  durable  material.  The  cement  flume  made  without  joints 
is  now  the  most  popular.  When  pipes  are  laid  to  convey  water  to  the 
head  of  each  furrow  they  may  be  made  of  iron,  steel,  cement,  mortar, 
clay,  canvas,  or  paper.  These  half  dozen  kinds  of  pipes  are  in  use  at 
the  present  time  in  California. 

Wooden  flumes. — A  common  form  of  wooden  flume  is  made,  in  the 
manner  shown  in  figure  14,  of  redwood  boards,  which  are  held  in  place 
by  }^okes  about  4  feet  apart.  Water  flows  to  the  furrows  through 
auger  holes  in  the  side  midway  between  the  yokes,  and  is  controlled 
by  small  zinc  slides. 


41 


When  V-shaped  flumes  are  preferred  they  are  usually  built  as  shown 
in  figure  15.     The  slides  are  fastened  near  the  bottom  of  one  slope. 

Head  flume  of  ce- 
ment mortar. — This 
flume  is  made  in 
place  in  one  contin- 
uous line  across  the 
head  of  the  orchard 
by  a  specially  de- 
signed machine. 
The  ingredients  of 
the  cement  mortar 
are  one  part  by  vol- 
ume of  imported 
Portland  cement 
and  five  parts  by 
volume  of  clean, 
coarse  sand.  The 
sand  and  cement  are 
mixed  into  a  mortar 
and  fed  into  the  ma- 


FIG.  14.— Board  flume  lor  use  in  furrow  irrigation. 


chine,  which  forms  the  bottom  and  sides  of  the  flume  and  compresses 

the  mortar  in  one  operation. 

Flumes  of  this  kind  are  made  in  five  sizes,  designated  by  the  number 

of  inches  across  the 
inside  of  the  bottom. 
An  8 -inch  cement 
flume  is  shown  in 
cross  section  in  fig- 
ure 16.  The  remain- 
ing sizes  are  similar 
in  form  but  have 
varying  dimensions. 
The  sizes,  cross  sections,  volumes  of  mortar,  and  prices a  are  given 

in  the  following  table: 

Prices  of  cement  head  flumes. 


FIG.  15.— V-shaped  flume  for  use  in  furrow  irrigation. 


Volume  of 

Size. 

Cross  sec- 
tion. 

mortar 
per  linear 

Price. 

foot. 

Inches. 
6 

Sq.  inches. 
36 

Cubic  feet. 
0.35 

$0.16 

8 

56 

.40 

.18 

10 

80 

.50 

.20 

12 

96 

.72 

.22 

14 

126 

.82 

.25 

'The  prices  were  obtained  from  J.  H.  Martin,  Riverside,  Cal.,  December,  1903. 


42 


wm 


FIG.  16.— Cross  section  of  8-inch  cement  flume. 


After  a  flume  is  made  and  before  the  mortar  becomes  hard,  small 
tubes  from  f  to  li  inches  in  diameter,  the  size  depending  somewhat 
on  the  size  of  the  flume,  are  inserted  in  the  side  next  to  the  orchard. 
These  tubes  may  be  of  tin  or  galvanized  iron,  and  each  has  a  small 
slide  gate  in  the  form  shown  in  figure  16.  There  should  be  as  many 
tubes  between  the  rows  of  trees  as  there  are  furrows. 

On  medium  or  steep  slopes  the  water  in  the  flume  flows  at  a  high 
rate  of  speed,  which  lowers  the  head  over  each  opening  and  lessens 

the  discharge  to  the  furrow. 
This  difficulty  is  readily  over- 
come by  inserting  one  or  more 
short  pieces  of  laths  in  grooves 
made  by  a  trowel  when  the  mor- 
tar is  soft.  These  low  checks  are 
put  in  on  an  angle,  so  as  to  crowd 
the  water  toward  the  opening  in 
the  tube. 

Head  flumes  of  cement  con- 
crete.— These  flumes  are  made  of 
materials  which  closely  resemble  the  ordinary  concrete  of  engineering 
structures.  One  part  of  the  best  Portland  cement  to  six  parts  of  sand 
and  gravel  is  the  usual  mixture.  It  is  laid  in  place  across  the  head  of 
the  tract  to  be  watered,  in  sections  of  about  12  feet.  Special  molds  are 
designed  to  hold  the  concrete  in  place  until  it  partially  sets,  when  the 
molds  are  removed.  A  flume  of  this  kinda  is  shown  in  figure  17.  By 
comparing  the  dimensions 
of  this  10-inch  flume  with  a 
similar  size  of  the  kind  pre- 
viously described  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  latter  contains 
more  material  of  decidedly 
greater  strength.  These 
advantages  are  offset  by 
greater  cost. 

For  distributing  the  water 
from  the  flume  to  a  large 
number  of  furrows  devices 

Somewhat    similar   to   those  FIG.  17.-Cross  section  of  10-inch  concrete  flume. 

already  described  under  the  head  of  cement-mortar  flumes  are  used. 

Cement  pipes. — Both  cement  and  salt-glazed  vitrified  pipes  are  occa- 
sionally used  in  place  of  earthen  head  ditches.  These  pipes  are  too 
common  to  need  any  detailed  description.  They  are  placed  deep 
enough  not  to  interfere  with  plowing,  but  seldom  more  than  2  feet 


IZ 


id' 


«As  made  by  S.  J.  White,  of  Redlands,  Cal. 


43 


beneath  the  surface,  and  various  contrivances  have  been  designed, 
some  of  which  are  controlled  by  patents,  to  distribute  the  water  to  a 
large  number  of  furrows  in  nearly  equal  and  constant  streams. 

A  practice  lately  introduced  in  citrus  orchards  is  to  distribute  the 
water  from  the  cement  pipes  by  means  of  short  standpipes  of  the  same 
material  which  terminate  in  semicircular  basins  of  cement  mortar. 
Each  basin  has  about  six  holes  in  the  curved  portion,  through  which 
water  is  fed  to  the  furrows.  The  water  may  be  turned  on  or  off  by 
operating  a  small  rubber-faced  valve,  which  is  fitted  over  the  top  of 
the  standpipe  and  is  flush  with  the  bottom  of  the  basin. 

The  present  (March  1,  1904)  prices  of  cement  pipe  of  different  sizes 
at  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  are  as  given  in  the  following  table: 

Prices  of  cement  pipe  at  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 


Inside 
diameter 
of  pipe. 

Price 
per  foot. 

Thickness. 

Weight 
per  foot. 

Inches. 

Inches. 

Pounds. 

4 

80.05 

1 

13 

5 

.065 

1 

16 

6 

.08 

1 

',; 

20 

7 

.10 

1 

25 

8 

.125 

1, 

31 

10 

.17 

1 

44 

12 

.21 

1, 

57 

14 

.25 

11 

68 

The  above  prices  are  for  cement  pipe  composed  of  one  part  Portland 
cement  to  three  parts  sand.  Other  makers  use  one  to  four  and  increase 
the  thickness  of  the  walls.  Last  January  (1904)  a  Riverside  firm  was 
selling  pipe  of  the  latter  composition  at  the  following  prices: 

Prices  of  cement  pipe  at  Riverside,  Cal. 


Diameter 
of  pipe. 

Price  per 
joint. 

Price  per 
foot. 

Inches. 
6 
8 
10 
12 
14 

$0.12 
.16 
.26 
.31 
.40 

$0.06 
.08 
.13 
.155 
.20 

MAKING    FURROWS. 


The  furrows  for  crops  like  potatoes,  which  are  planted  in  straight 
rows,  are  made  with  an  ordinary  walking  plow  with  a  cultivator  hav- 
ing a  large  shovel  attached,  or  with  a  lister. 

Sometimes  it  is  very  desirable  to  irrigate  grain,  clover,  or  alfalfa 
from  furrows,  on  account  of  the  liability  of  the  soil  to  bake  when 
flooded.  In  making  furrows  for  such  crops  homemade  implements  are 
most  commonly  employed.  These  usually  make  small  furrows  from 


44 


2  to  4  inches  in  depth  and  from  1.5  to  4  feet  apart  down  the  steepest 
slope  from  the  head  ditch.  The  homemade  furrower  shown  in  figure 
18  is  well  suited  for  this  purpose. 

When  the  soil  will  not  be  injured  by  rolling,  projections  in  the  form 
of  an  inverted  V  are  sometimes  fastened  around  the  circumference  of 
the  roller  and  each  of  these  makes  a  well-defined  and  smooth  furrow. 

Some  3^ears  ago  small,  shallow  furrows  made  by  cultivator  teeth  were 
about  the  only  kind  to  be  seen  in  orchards.  Now  a  small  number  of 
large,  deep  furrows  are  frequently  used  instead.  Plate  III,  figure  2, 
shows  an  implement  for  making  such  furrows  in  use  on  J.  H.  Williams's 
large  orange  orchard,  near  Porterville,  Cal.  He  took  a  cultivator  and 
removed  all  the  shovels.  Two  double  mold  shovels  were  attached  to 
an  arm  which  is  fastened  by  the  clamps  of  the  cultivator.  The  right- 
hand  plow  extends  out 
to  the  side  so  that  the 
distance  between  the 
centers  of  the  two 
plows  is  4. 5  feet.  This 
enables  the  driver  to 
make  a  furrow  be- 
neath the  outer 
branches  of  one  row 
of  trees  in  going  one 
way  and  of  the  adja- 
cent row  in  return- 
ing. With  trees  20 
feet  apart  four  fur- 
rows are  made,  and 
these  can  be  arranged 
in  the  best  way  by 
adjusting  the  arms  of 
the  plows.  The  lever  arm  of  the  cultivator  controls  the  depth  and 
size  of  the  furrows. 

Shallow  versus  deep  furrows. — Ten  or  fifteen  years  ago  the  prevail- 
ing custom  among  fruit  growers  was  to  make  a  considerable  number 
of  shallow  furrows  between  the  rows  of  trees.  While  this  practice  is 
still  followed  by  many,  the  general  trend  of  the  best  practice  is  toward 
a  smaller  number  of  deeper  furrows.  A  desire  to  economize  water  by 
lessening  the  amount  evaporated  was  doubtless  the  principal  reason 
for  a  change  of  usage.  Besides,  running  water  in  deep  furrows  tends 
to  break  up  hard  subsoil  and  to  promote  deep  rooting. 

Owing  to  the  scarcity  and  value  of  water  in  southern  California,  the 
orchardists  have  been  forced  to  make  a  close  study  of  the  effects  pro- 
duced by  different  methods.  This  Office  began  a  series  of  experiments 
in  June,  1903,  at  Pomona,  Cal. ,  to  determine  the  actual  difference  in 


FIG.  IS.^Furrower. 


45 

loss  of  water  by  evaporation  between  the  shallow  and  deep  furrows. 
The  experiment  has  not  been  continued  sufficiently  long  to  warrant 
any  conclusive  statements.  The  results,  however,  show  a  marked 
gain  in  favor  of  deep  furrows.  From  June  20  to  October  24,  1903, 
the  average  amounts  evaporated  from  equal  areas  of  the  same  kind  of 
irrigated  soil  for  the  different  modes  of  applying  water  were  as  follows: 

Acre-feet. 

Irrigation  by  flooding .... 0.62 

Irrigation  by  furrows  3  inches  deep 55 

Irrigation  by  furrows  12  inches  deep 41 

.  Length,  grade,  and  number  of  furrows. — One  of  the  common  mis- 
takes in  furrow  irrigation  is  to  try  to  run  water  from  end  to  end  of  a 
long  field.  A  uniform  distribution  can  not  be  made  from  long  fur- 
rows. Their  length  should  rarely  exceed  660  feet  (40  rods),  which 
measures  the  side  of  a  10-acre  tract.  A  tract  from  40  to  80  rods  long 
in  the  direction  of  the  furrows  should  have  two  head  ditches,  and  longer 
fields  a  larger  number. 

The  fall  or  grade  of  furrows  may  vary  between  about  4.4  feet  per 
mile  and  88  feet  per  mile,  or  from  1  to  20  inches  in  100  feet.  On 
ordinary  soils  a  fall  of  from  3  to  4  inches  to  100  feet  is  to  be  preferred. 
When  the  slope  of  a  field  is  too  great  that  of  the  furrows  may  be 
reduced  by  changing  their  direction. 

The  number  of  furrows  in  orchards  depends  on  the  age  of  the  tree, 
the  space  between  the  rows,  and  the  depth  of  the  furrows.  Nursery 
stock  is  irrigated  by  one  or  two  furrows  and  young  trees  by  from  two 
to  four.  Only  one  very  deep  furrow  made  by  a  subsoiler  may  be  run 
between  the  rows,  while  four  is  a  common  number  for  those  of  medium 
size.  Shallow  furrows  in  orchards  are  spaced  from  2  to  3  feet  apart. 
For  grain  and  forage  crops  the  spacing  will  depend  chiefly  on  the  ease 
and  rapidity  with  which  water  spreads  sideways  in  the  soil. 

Furrow  irrigation  has  several  advantages  over  other  methods.  It 
requires  less  water  than  any  form  of  flooding,  because  the  water  sur- 
face exposed  to  evaporation  is  confined  to  a  small  fraction  of  the  total 
land  surface,  seldom  more  than  5  per  cent.  Again,  the  water  is  applied 
from  3  to  12  inches  below  the  surface  and  is  distributed  through  the 
soil  by  capillarity  rather  than  by  gravity,  and  plants  seem  to  thrive 
best  when  they  receive  moisture  in  this  way.  When  water  is  applied 
in  the  bottom  of  V-shaped  furrows  the  surface  soil  is  not  saturated, 
and  baking  is  prevented.  By  the  furrow  method  the  surface  soil  is 
kept  tolerably  dry,  excessive  evaporation  is  avoided,  there  is  little  dis- 
placement of  surface  soil,  and  a  tendency  toward  deep  rooting  in  the 
plant  is  promoted.  Finally,  it  is  cheap  and  convenient. 

In  seeking  to  improve  on  present  methods  of  applying  water  by 
furrow  irrigation  one  is  tempted  to  recommend  the  best  appliances 
regardless  of  the  cost,  but  such  recommendations  would  be  followed 


46 

only  in  rare  cases.  Local  conditions  have  always  to  be  considered.  If 
one  assumes  that  pipes  are  the  best  means  of  distributing  water,  he  is 
at  once  met  with  the  objection  that  the  large  majority  of  irrigators 
could  not  afford  to  lay  pipes  for  that  object.  It  is  questionable  also 
if  cement-concrete  flumes  could  be  used  in  the  colder  portions  of  the 
West  on  account  of  the  severity  of  the  frosts  and  the  tendency  of  the 
ground  to  heave  when  frozen.  There  is  also  the  same  objection  that 
applies  to  pipes,  viz,  the  first  cost.  Even  wooden  flumes  are  consid- 
ered by  the  majority  of  water  users  to  be  too  expensive  for  the  mere 
purpose  of  dividing  an  irrigation  stream  equally  among  a  number  of 
furrows. 

THE   BASIN   METHOD   OF   IRRIGATION   AS   PRACTICED   IN   THE    SANTA 
CLARA   VALLEY,    CALIFORNIA. 

Owing  to  the  light  rainfall  since  the  dry  year  of  1898,  most  of  the 
Santa  Clara  Valley  orchards  are  now  irrigated.  The  water  supply 
comes  chiefly  from  wells  by  the  use  of  pumps,  but  the  various  creeks 
also  furnish  the  gravity  canals  with  considerable  volumes  during  the 
rainy  months  from  January  to  April.  About  four-fifths  of  all  the 
irrigated  orchards  are  watered  by  means  of  small  basins.  The  basin 
method  may  therefore  be  regarded  as  not  only  the  most  prevalent,  but 
as  having  attained  in  the  Santa  Clara  Valley  its  greatest  perfection. 
The  same  system  is  extensively  practiced  in  the  walnut  orchards  of 
Orange  County,  in  California;  but  since  the  implements  used  and  the 
manner  of  making  basins  and  applying  water  are  much  the  same  in 
both  sections,  as  well  as  elsewhere,  the  descriptions  which  follow  under 
this  heading  will  be  confined  to  Santa  Clara  Valley.  For  much  of 
the  information  contained  in  these  descriptions  the  writer  is  indebted 
to  Mr.  F.  H.  Tibbetts,  a  student  in  irrigation  at  the  University  of 
California. 

The  trees  of  orchards  are  about  20  feet  apart,  set  in  squares  or  in 
diamonds,  108  trees  to  the  acre.  In  some  of  the  younger  orchards, 
particularly  cherry  orchards,  the  trees  are  spaced  farther  apart.  The 
most  common  practice  is  to  form  a  square  basin  around  each  tree  by 
throwing  up  ridges  midway  between  the  rows  of  trees  in  both  direc- 
tions. These  ridges  are  made  with  ordinary  walking  plows,  to  which 
extension  moldboards  are  sometimes  attached.  Usually  two  furrows 
are  thrown  together,  the  second  furrow  reenf orcing  the  first  and  mak- 
ing it  higher. 

On  light  sandy  loams  and  all  ordinary  soils  that  are  not  too  wet  or 
lumpy  an  implement  known  as  the  ' '  ridger  "  is  commonly  used  to  form 
the  ridges  (fig.  19).  The  narrow,  deep  runners  are  made  of  2-inch 
planks  and  are  from  14  to  18  inches  high  and  from  5  to  8  feet  in  length. 
They  are  from  4  to  5  feet  apart  at  the  front  end  and  from  15  to  24  inches 
apart  at  the  rear  end.  The  runners  should  be  shod  with  steel  on  the 


47 


bottom  and  on  the  inner  side  part  way  up,  to  prevent  wear  and  lessen 
the  draft.  The  runners  are  held  in  position  by  crosspieces  on  top  and 
straps  of  steel.  A  steel  ridger,  which  is  claimed  to  be  superior  to  the 
ordinary  wooden  ridger,  is  shown  in  figure  20. 

On  light  sandy  soils  which  are  free  from  weeds  good  ridges  can  be 
formed  with  the 
ridger  alone.  One 
man  with  3  horses 
can  ridge  20  acres 
in  ten  hours.  On 
compact  soils  and 
those  covered  more 
or  less  with  weeds  a 
strip  must  first"  be 
plowed  and  har- 
rowed. Disk  har- 
rows and  disk  plows 
combine  both  opera- 
tions and  are  much 

USed    for    this     pur-  FlG-  ^--Adjustable  ridger. 

pose.     The  loose  earth  is  afterwards  thrown  up  by  a  ridger. 

The  combination  rotary  disk,  a  recent  design,  is  highly  praised  by 
those  who  have  used  it  for  making  checks  or  ridges.  It  consists  of 
four  ordinary  disks,  arranged  in  the  form  of  a  V  to  throw  the  earth 

toward  a  common 
ridge  in  the  center. 
It  requires  from  four 
to  six  horses  to  oper- 
ate it  successfully, 
but  time  is  saved  over 
the  common  ridger  in 
not  having  to  pass 
along  the  same  ridge 
more  than  once. 

When  an  orchard 
is  cross  checked  or 
ridged  by  first  mak- 
ing ridges  at  right 
angles  to  the  direction 
in  which  the  water 

FIG.  2o.-steei  ridger.  wjll  flow  anc[  after- 

wards in  the  direction  of  flow,  openings  are  left  at  all  points  where 
ridges  cross.  Each  basin  is  thus  open  at  each  of  its  four  corners. 
The  most  laborious  way  to  fill  these  gaps  is  by  the  use  of  the  shovel. 
30439— No.  145- 


48 


The  common  scraper,  drawn  by  one  horse,  is  also  used  for  this  purpose. 
The  horse  walks  along  the  side  of  the  continuous  ridge  and  as  each 
cross  ridge  is  reached  sufficient  earth  to  fill  the  gap  is  dumped. 

A  rotary  scraper  recently  invented  to  fill  basin  gaps  was  extensively 
used  in  the  Santa  Clara  Valley  last  summer.  It  differs  from  the  ordi- 
nary scraper  in  that  the  scoop  is  free  to  revolve  about  two  fixed  points 
in  the  frame  instead  of  being  attached  rigidly  to  the  handles  (PL  IV, 
fig.  1).  It  is  filled  in  the  usual  way,  and  when  the  gap  is  reached  the 
operator  releases  the  catch  at  the  handle,  which  dumps  the  scraper, 
after  which  it  is  again  snapped  back  into  position  to  be  filled. 

There  is  no  fixed  rule  as  regards  the  height  of  ridges.  The  lowest 
are  usually  8  inches  high,  with  sufficient  base  and  top  width  to  retain 
water  in  the  basin  to  a  height  of  4  inches.  Some  orchardists  apply  as 
much  as  9  inches  in  depth  over  each  basin  at  one  time,  and  in  such 
cases  the  ridges  need  to  be  at  least  12  inches  high.  On  nearly  level 
ground  2,  4,  16,  or  even  a  much  larger  number  of  trees  may  be  included 
in  one  basin.  This  practice  requires  higher  and  stronger  ridges. 

FLOODING    BASINS. 

AS  a  rule  permanent  supply  ditches  extend  across  the  upper  end  of 
the  tract  to  be  irrigated.     Flumes  made  of  wood  and  cement  concrete 
are  also  being  introduced  with  beneficial  results  to  take  the  place  of 
earthen  ditches.     In  some  orchards  these  supply  ditches  are  tempo- 
rary, like  the  ridges, 
and    are   made    by 
plowing  out  a  dead 
furrow  as   deep  as 
possible    and    then 
scraping  it  out  with 
a   V   scraper.     If  a 
larger  ditch   is  re- 
quired, it  is  plowed 
and  scraped   out  a 
second  time. 

Perhaps  one  of  the 
best  methods  of  con- 
veying water  from 
the  supply  ditch  to 
the  basins  is  to  make 
double  ridges  in  the 

alternate  spaces  between  the  rows  of  trees  in  the  direction  of  the 
greatest  slope,  as  indicated  in  figure  21.  The  water  in  the  supply  ditch 
is  checked  and  diverted  down  one  or  more  of  these  small  ditches. 
When  the  flow  reaches  the  lowest  tier  of  basins,  an  opening  is  made 
in  each  ridge  and  the  water  floods  the  two  adjacent  basins.  When 


FIG.  21.— Irrigating  orchard  by  basin  method. 


U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr.,  Bui.  145,  Office  of  Expt.  Stations.      Irrigation  Investigations. 


PLATE  IV. 


FIG.  1.— ROTARY  SCRAPER. 


FIQ.  2.— DISTRIBUTING  WATER  WITH  CANVAS  HOSE. 


49 


these  have  received  sufficient  water,  other  openings  are  made  opposite 
the  next  higher  pair  of  basins  and  the  flow  is  checked,  so  that  it  will  be 
diverted  into  them.  This  operation  is  continued  until  all  the  basins 
on  both  sides  of  the  ditch  are  flooded.  The  most  convenient  means  of 
checking  the  flow  in  both  kinds  of  ditches  is  by  canvas  dams  (p.  64). 

Another  way  of  applying  water  to  basins  is  indicated  in  figure  22. 
The  water  from  the  supply  ditch  passes  through  the  basins  from  top 
to  bottom  in  a  zigzag  course  due  to  the  position  of  the  gaps  in  the 
ridges.  Only  half  of  the  gaps  need  to  be  filled  before  water  is 
admitted,  but  those  remaining  are  usually  filled  immediately  after  each 
basin  is  flooded.  This  method  is  objected  to  for  the  reason  that  the 
basins  nearest  the  supply  ditch  receive  the  most  water. 

Still  another  method  used  under  gravity  canals  where  water  is  more 
abundant  is  to  make  the  basin  complete,  then  turn  the  water  into  the 
upper  basin,  and  allow  it  to  flow  over  the  dividing  ridge  into  the  next 
basin,  and  so  on  un- 
til the  row  is  under   teS^^rf^c--^^^ 
water.     The  irriga- 
tor  then   begins  at 
the  lower  end  and 
repairs  the  breaks, 
leaving   each   basin 
full  of  water.     In  a 
few  hours   the  soil 
absorbs    the   whole 
amount. 

All  of  the  basins, 
ridges,  checks,  etc., 
just  described  are 
temporary.  After 
heavy  rains  and  after  each  irrigation  the  orchards  are  thoroughly  cul- 
tivated and  harrowed,  and  the  ridges  are  worked  down  to  the  general 
level  to  be  rebuilt  for  the  next  irrigation. 

Some  of  the  orchardists  consider  it  detrimental  to  have  the  water 
come  in  contact  with  the  stems  of  the  trees.  To  prevent  this,  those 
who  are  of  this  opinion  form  two  ridges  between  the  rows  of  trees. 
This  forms  small  basins,  in  the  centers  of  which  the  trees  stand,  the 
water  being  applied  to  the  outer  basins.  This  prevents  water  from 
coming  in  direct  contact  with  the  tree  and  leaves  the  soil  around  it  in 
good  tilth.  Nearly  the  same  benefits  may  be  obtained  by  the  common 
basin  if  care  is  used  in  grading  the  soil  within  each  basin  so  that  the 
circular  portion  around  each  tree  will  not  be  submerged.  The  sketch 
shown  in  figure  23  may  convey  a  better  idea  of  this  custom. 

According  to  the  report  submitted  by  Mr.  Tibbetts,  the  cost  of  pre- 
paring the  surface  is  small  in  comparison  with  the  cost  of  the  water  and 


FIG.  22.— Irrigating  orchard  by  basin  method. 


50 

the  expense  involved  in  applying  it.  The  water,  which  is  conveyed  and 
delivered  by  the  canals,  is  never  measured  to  the  consumer.  The  canal 

companies  charge 
each  taker  from  $15 
to  $20  per  day  for 
head  "  of  water, 
which  varies  ac- 

FIG.  23.— Method  of  grading  interior  of  basins  to  prevent  water  coming     cording      to     COndi- 
in  direct  contact  with  trunk  of  trees. 

tions  from  2  to  3£ 

cubic  feet  per  second,  or  from  80  to  133  miner's  inches  under  a  6-inch 
pressure. 

The  average  annual  cost  of  water  on  130  orchards  was  $2.50  per  acre. 

The  cost  of  preparing  the  surface  in  one  of  the  ways  previously 
described  was  found  to  be,  on  an  average,  68  cents  per  acre. 

Two  men  are  generally  required  to  attend  to  the  water.  They  work 
twelve  hours  each  day  and  receive  in  wages  from  $2  to  $3.  About  20 
per  cent  higher  wages  are  paid  for  night  shifts.  The  average  cost  of 
applying  water  on  130  orchards  was  $1.88  per  acre. 

The  items  in  the  following  brief  summary  give  the  cost  per  acre  for 
orchard  irrigation  under  the  gravity  canals  of  the  Santa  Clara  Valley: 

Per  acre. 

Average  cost  of  water. $2. 50 

Average  cost  of  preparing  the  surface 68 

Average  cost  of  irrigating 1. 88 

Total  average  cost 5. 06 

USE    OF    METAL    PIPE     AND     CANVAS     HOSE     IN     IRRIGATION     OF     FIELD 

CROPS   IN    CALIFORNIA. 

There  is  no  section  in  the  arid  West  where  so  much  skill  is  shown 
in  irrigating  field  and  orchard  crops  as  in  southern  California.  In 
this  section  water  is  made  to  do  the  highest  duty  possible  and  all  irri- 
gation practice  tends  toward  the  greatest  economy  in  its  conveyance 
and  use. 

The  water  supply  of  the  San  Bernardino  and  adjacent  valleys  is 
derived,  to  a  large  extent,  from  natural  streams  which  during  the 
rainy  months  are  subject  to  heavy  flow,  but  which  during  the  dry  sea- 
son discharge  in  many  cases  no  water  whatever  and  leave  the  irrigated 
lands  dependent  upon  such  water  as  may  be  stored  or  upon  the  supply 
derived  from  artesian  sources.  In  the  great  majority  of  cases  it  has 
been  found  profitable  to  construct  impervious  channels,  either  by  lin- 
ing the  canals  with  cement  or  by  the  use  of  underground  pipes,  and  so 
reduce  all  losses  to  a  minimum.  The  water  is  drawn  from  the  under- 
ground distributary  pipe  through  cement  standpipes  or  "stands,"  and 
as  a  rule  is  conveyed  to  the  fields  in  rough  furrows  and  the  crop  irri- 
gated by  the  flooding,  furrow,  basin,  or  check  method.  The  water  is 


51 


turned  into  the  basin,  furrow,  or  lateral,  from  which  it  seeps  rapidly 
away.  In  the  case  of  the  orchard  this  is  just  what  is  wanted,  provided 
the  water  reaches  the  root  zone  of  the  tree.  In  the  irrigation  of  field 
crops,  however,  it  is  very  different.  Field  laterals,  both  permanent 
and  temporary,  from  the  nature  of  their  construction  and  use,  are 
poor  water  carriers  and  great  amounts  seep  out,  from  which  but  a 
small  area  is  benefited.  This  area,  as  a  rule,  lies  along  the  ditch  bank 
and  is  allowed  to  go  to  weeds. 

In  addition  to  losing  water  the  channels  of  such  laterals  together 
with  their  banks  and  dumps  of  excavated  material  decrease  by  no 
small  amount  the  crop-producing  area,  to  say  nothing  of  obstructing 
the  free  use  of 
farming  machin- 
ery. The  losses  by 
seepage  and  leak- 
age can  be  prevent- 
ed only  by  the  use 
of  lined  channels, 
and  these  channels 
to  permit  the  full- 
est use  and  free 
cultivation  of  the 
land  must  be  re- 
movable. To  meet 
these  conditions 
and  to  bring  about 
a  more  economical 
use  of  both  land 
and  water,  the  use 
of  metal  pipe  and 
canvas  hose  in  the 
irrigation  of  field 
crops,  has  been 
quite  widely  adopt- 
ed in  the  region  re- 
ferred to. 

Fields  of  alfalfa  irrigated  with  pipe  and  hose  are  usually  laid  out  in 
such  manner  that  from  5  to  10  acres  may  be  served  from  each  stand, 
depending,  of  course,  upon  the  size  and  shape  of  the  tract.  These 
cement  stands  consist  of  two  or  three  sections  of  8  or  10  inch  cement 
pipe  placed  in  a  vertical  position  and  connected  with  the  underground 
distributary  pipe  by  a  T  joint  (fig.  24).  They  are  placed  at  intervals 
along  the  highest  side  of  a  field  and  serve  as  outlets  from  which  the 
piped  water  is  taken  into  the  metal  and  canvas  pipes. 

Various  combinations  of  galvanized  iron  pipe  and  canvas  hose  are 
used.  Some  irrigators  prefer  to  use  all  canvas  hose  with  only  a  short 


FIG.  24.— Details  of  construction  of  8-inch  cement  stand.    Method  of 
closing  discharge  is  described  on  page  55. 


52 

length  of  metal  pipe  (PL  IV,  fig.  2).  Others  use  nearly  all  metal 
pipe  and  only  a  short  piece  of  canvas  hose  to  join  the  metal  pipe 
to  the  stands.  Often  even  this  small  amount  of  canvas  hose  is  dis- 
pensed with.  Still  others  have  adopted  the  metal  pipe  to  convey  the 
water  from  the  stand  to  the  section  of  the  field  to  be  irrigated  and 
use  the  hose  simply  to  distribute  it.  The  best  results  seem  to  be 
obtained  through  the  use  of  this  last-mentioned  combination.  Figure 
25  shows  part  of  a  field  of  alfalfa  irrigated  in  this  manner,  which  will 
illustrate  the  common  method  of  handling  the  conduits  when  in  use. 


£±3 


FIG.  25.— Irrigating  field  strips. 


The  sketch  is  taken  from  a  40-acre  field  in  the  vicinity  of  Chino. 
The  water  from  a  pumping  plant  located  on  the  northeast  corner  of 
the  tract  is  delivered  into  a  large  cement  standpipe  3  feet  in  diameter 
and  about  7  feet  in  height  above  the  ground  level.  This  standpipe 
regulates  the  flow  of  water  to  the  distributary  and  provides  sufficient 
head  to  force  the  water  through  the  entire  system  of  pipes.  The  main 
underground  distributary  is  a  cement  pipe  10  inches  in  internal  diam- 


U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr.,  Bui.  145,  Office  of  Fxpt.  Stations,     litigation  Investigations. 


PLATE  V. 


FIQ.  1.—  COMMON  METHOD  OF  CONNECTING  METAL  PIPE  WITH  CEMENT  STAND. 


FIQ.  2.— DISTRIBUTING  WATER  FROM  SECTIONS  OF  METAL  PIPE  ATTACHED  TO  MAIN 
PIPE  BY  CANVAS  ELBOWS. 


53 

eter  and  is  laid  across  the  upper  side  of  the  field,  as  shown.  The 
cement  stands  are  placed  10  rods  apart,  each  thus  serving-  a  strip  of 
land  containing  about  5  acres. 

The  metal  pipes  are  first  strung  down  the  first  strip,  end  to  end. 
Beginning,  then,  at  the  stand,  the  first  length  of  pipe  is  either  joined 
directly  to  the  stand  by  a  right-angled  elbow,  as  shown  in  Plate  V,  fig- 
ure 1,  or  the  connection  may  be  made  by  a  short  piece  of  canvas  hose 
from  6  to  10  feet  in  length.  Many  prefer  this  latter  method,  as  it  gives 
greater  freedom  of  movement  to  the  first  two  or  three  sections  of  pipe 
and  also,  protects  the  cement  stand  from  disturbance  by  careless  han- 
dling. When  the  sections  of  pipe  are  jointed  and  extend  nearly  to 
the  lower  end  of  the  field,  the  water  is  turned  in  and  the  irrigation  of 
the  first  strip  begun.  Many  irrigators  distribute  the  stream  from  the 
metal  pipe  directly.  Others  distribute  by  means  of  one  or  two  lengths 
of  metal  pipe  which  are  attached  to  the  main  pipe  either  by  a  short 
piece  of  hose  or  by  a  metal  elbow  (PL  V,  fig.  2),  while  still  others  use 
one,  two,  or  three  50-foot  lengths  of  canvas  hose  at  the  end  of  the  metal 
pipe,  with  which  the  stream  can  be  conveyed  to  every^  part  of  the  strip 
within  the  radius  of  the  hose.  It  is  common  practice  after  having  suffi- 
ciently irrigatedthe  lower  5  or  6  rods  of  the  strip  to  disconnect  several 
lengths  of  the  metal  pipe,  reattach  the  distributing  hose,  and  proceed 
with  the  irrigation  of  a  second  and  higher  portion  of  the  strip.  While 
the  water  is  running  there  the  disconnected  pipes  are  placed  in  the 
adjoining  strip  in  much  the  same  manner  as  that  in  which  they  were 
originally  strung  out  in  the  first  strip,  beginning,  however,  at  the 
lower  end  of  the  strip  and  proceeding  upward  in  reverse  order.  When 
the  second  portion  of  the  first  strip  is  watered,  more  metal  pipe  is  dis- 
connected and  placed  in  the  adjoining  strip,  the  hose  is  moved  up  to 
the  third  portion  of  the  strip,  and  the  stream  handled  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  in  the  two  lower  portions  just  irrigated.  This  method  of  pro- 
cedure is  continued  until  all  of  the  first  strip  has  been  watered.  Then 
the  metal  pipe  is  jointed  up  and  the  connection  made  with  the  second 
stand  and  the  irrigation  of  the  second  strip  accomplished  by  repeating 
the  operation  as  in  the  first  strip. 

This  method  is  used  to  the  best  advantage  on  land  having  a  fairly 
even  slope.  Where  the  land  is  uneven  and  broken  the  metal  pipes 
give  better  results  if  laid  along  the  ridges  and  the  water  distributed 
on  either  side  by  canvas  sections.  This  system  might  be  employed  on 
very  rough  ground  v/ith  but  little  preparation  of  the  surface  and  with 
but  little  modification  of  the  method  just  described.  The  only  requi- 
site is  that  a  head  be  maintained  on  the  pipes  sufficient  to  carry  the 
stream  to  the  top  of  the  highest  knolls  without  much  diminution  of 
its  flow.  The  use  of  pipes  is  not  confined  to  tracts  where  flooding  is 
the  method  of  irrigation  employed,  but  they  are  also  used  to  some 
extent  with  basin  and  contour  check  irrigation.  The  pipes  convey  the 


54 

water  to  the  various  checks  without  the  losses  which  would  occur  if 
the  common  method  of  filling  one  check  through  a  series  of  others 
was  employed. 

CONSTRUCTION    OP   PIPE,   HOSE,  AND   STANDS. 

The  thin  iron  pipe  commonly  used  varies  from  7  to  9  inches  in  diam- 
eter and  is  made  in  sections  of  varying  lengths.  The  most  common 
length  is  12  feet,  formed  of  four  36-inch  sections.  All  joints  and  seams 
are  riveted  and  soldered,  and  the  end  of  each  section  is  crimped  to  give 
it  rigidity.  Some  16-foot  sections  are  used,  but  these  are  rather  long; 
and  although  there  are  fewer  joints  where  leakage  may  occur,  their 
length  makes  them  bulky^  and  awkward  to  handle.  The  roughness  of 
the  land  on  which  the  pipes  are  used  governs  to  some  extent  the  best 
length  of  section.  On  some  rough  land  10-foot  sections  are  used  with 
the  best  success,  while  on  smooth  land  some  prefer  15-foot  sections. 

Various  weights  of  galvanized  iron  may  be  used,  ranging  from  No. 
20  to  No.  26  B.  W.  G.  No.  26  iron  is  too  light  for  most  work;  it 
makes  a  fragile  pipe  which  is  easily  damaged,  especially  at  the  ends. 
The  most  serviceable  pipe,  where  price  and  durability  are  considered, 
seems  to  be  that  made  from  No.  22  or  No.  24  iron.  No.  20  is  heavy 
for  all  ordinary  purposes,  but  makes  a  very  strong  and  lasting  pipe. 
No.  22  iron  is  the  grade  most  commonly  used.  It  makes  a  good,  serv- 
iceable pipe  that  is  light,  but  at  the  same  time  quite  strong.  The  effect 
of  water  pressure  on  these  metal  pipes,  as  governing  the  weights  of 
iron  to  be  used,  need  not  in  the  majority  of  cases  be  considered,  for 
usually  the  head  is  low.  Pipe  should  be  just  heavy  enough  to  stand 
ordinary  usage  without  being  damaged. 

The  canvas  hose  should  always  be  a  little  greater  in  diameter  than 
the  metal  pipe  with  which  it  is  used,  in  order  that  it  can  carry  with 
ease  the  same  volume  of  water.  It  should  never  be  used  under  any 
considerable  head,  as  it  can  stand  but  little  pressure  without  leaking. 
The  hose  is  made  in  25  to  100  foot  lengths  and  is  formed  of  one  strip 
of  canvas,  the  width  of  which  is  approximately  three  times  the  diame- 
ter of  the  hose  when  sewed,  allowance,  of  course,  being  made  for  the 
seam,  which  is  double  lap  and,  as  a  rule,  machine  sewed.  Various 
weights  of  canvas  are  used,  good  results  being  attained  with  either  10 
or  12  ounce  duck.  Many  use  a  patented  hose  which  has  been  treated 
with  a  preparation  to  make  the  duck  impervious.  Others  use  the 
plain  duck  without  treatment.  The  plain  duck,  if  carefully  handled 
when  in  use  and  if  not  left  lying  on  the  ground  where  it  will  rapidly 
mildew  when  not  in  use,  will  last,  as  a  rule,  a  season  and  a  half  and 
possibly  two.  The  prepared  hose  will,  with  the  same  treatment  and 
care,  last  two  and  two  and  one-half  seasons,  according  to  the  amount 
of  service  and  the  way  in  which  it  is  taken  care  of.  It  is  quite  possi- 
ble to  prolong  the  life  of  hose  by  giving  it  an  occasional  coating  inside 
and  out  of  boiled  linseed  oil.  Sometimes  it  is  boiled  in  paraffin.  This 


55 


LARGE.  COLLAR 


not  only  preserves  the  fiber  of  the  duck,  but  also  adds  to  its  impervi- 
ousness.  Another  treatment,  which  has  been  used  with  success  on 
smaller  canvas  hose  in  some  sections  of  the  East,  consists  in  saturating 
the  canvas  with  hot  coal  tar  and  linseed  oil  in  the  proportion  of  three  or 
four  parts  to  one.  The  hose  after  being  saturated  is  passed  through 
an  ordinary  clothes  wringer,  and  the  excess  of  tar  and  oil  squeezed  out. 
It  is  then  allowed  to  dry  for  several  days  before  being  used. 

The  canvas  hose  is  attached  to  the  metal  pipe  or  other  sections  of 
hose  by  means  of  metal  collars,  which  are  short  sections  of  pipe  (fig. 
26),  around  which  the  canvas  is  bound  with  wire.  At  one  end  of  the 
section  is  a  large  collar;  at  the  other  a  smaller  one.  The  short  hose 
used  to  connect  metal  pipe  with  the  stand  and  also  the  shorter  sections 
used  as  elbows  are  similar  in  construction  to  the  longer  sections,  each 
having  a  small  and  a  large  collar. 

The  details  of  construction  of  one  style  of  cement  stand  are  shown 
in  figure  24,  and  in  Plate  V,  figure  2,  the  method  of  connecting 
the  metal  pipe  with 
this  form  of  stand 
is  illustrated.  The 
right-angled  elbow  is 
made  in  three  sec- 
tions and  is  cemented 
firmly  into  the  top  of 
the  stand.  On  either 
side  of  the  horizontal 
section  of  the  elbow 
a  three-eighths-inch 
threaded  lug  is  riveted,  as  shown.  These  two  lugs  extend  about  3 
inches  beyond  the  end  of  the  elbow  and  are  used  to  hold  in  place  a 
hexagonal-shaped  board  somewhat  larger  in  diameter  than  the  end  of 
the  elbow,  which,  when  the  stand  is  not  in  use,  is  placed  over  the 
opening  and  there  drawn  snug  by  nuts,  thus  preventing  overflow  from 
the  stand. 

Where  pipes  are  rightly  constructed  and  properly  connected  there 
is  little  leakage  at  joints.  Where  it  is  necessary  to  carry  water  up  grade 
less  leakage  will  occur  if  canvas  hose  is  used,  as  there  are  fewer  joints 
and  the  hose  adapts  itself  to  changes  in  direction  better  than  does  the 
metal  pipe. 

COST   OF    PIPE   AND    HOSE. 

One  40-acre  tract,  which  is  80  rods  square,  is  successfully  irrigated 
with  1,300  feet  of  pipe  and  hose,  which  is  just  sufficient  to  convey  the 
water  to  the  lower  end  of  an  80-rod  strip.  Of  the  1,300  feet  500  is 
galvanized-iron  pipe,  8  inches  in  diameter.  The  remaining  800  feet  is 
canvas  hose,  most  of  which  has  been  treated  with  an  impervious  coat- 
ing. This  proportion  of  hose  to  pipe  is  much  larger  than  is  used  in 


FIG.  26, 


Methods  of  arranging  collar  connection  at  ends  of  canvas 
hose. 


56 


many  other  cases,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  it  is  economy  in  the  long  run  to 
have  so  much  hose,  as  it  is  extremely  short  lived.  The  first  cost  is 
less,  but  the  necessary  replacing  of  the  hose  every  year  or  two  brings 
the  ultimate  cost  much  above  that  of  metal  pipe.  The  galvanized-iron 
pipe  is  made  of  No.  24  iron  in  12-foot  sections  and  cost  20  cents  per 
running  foot.  This  price  is  somewhat  low  for  this  grade  of  pipe. 
The  average  price  is  nearer  to  25  cents  per  foot,  the  variation  being 
due  to  fluctuations  of  the  market.  At  20  cents  the  cost  per  section  is 
$2.40,  or  $100  for  the  entire  length  of  500  feet.  The  canvas  hose  is  an 
inch  larger  in  diameter  and  cost  7  cents  per  foot  for  the  plain  duck  and 
9  cents  per  foot  for  the  prepared  duck.  The  total  cost  for  the  canvas 
hose  was  $68.  For  the  entire  tract,  therefore,  the  necessary  pipes  and 
hose  cost  in  the  neighborhood  of  $168,  or  $4.20  per  acre.  This  cost 
per  acre  on  larger  tracts  would,  of  course,  be  somewhat  reduced,  as 
larger  tracts  than  the  one  taken  as  an  example  are  j  ust  as  successf  ully 
irrigated  with  no  more  pipe.  On  larger  tracts  it  is  possible  to  keep 
the  pipes  in  use  all  the  time,  irrigating  the  sections  in  turn. 

In  the  two  tables  which  follow  the  current  prices  of  pipe  and  hose 
on  the  Pacific  coast  are  given: 

Price  per  foot  of  galvanized-iron  pipe,  riveted  and  soldered  in  12-foot  sections,  San  Fran- 
cisco market,  December,  1903. 


Diameter 
of  pipe. 

No.  20 
iron. 

No.  22 
iron. 

No.  24 
iron. 

No.  26 
iron. 

Inches. 

Cents. 

Cents. 

Cents. 

Cents. 

3 

18.5 

17 

11 

9.5 

5 

25.0 

22 

15 

12.5 

6 

28.0 

25 

18 

16.0 

7 

30.0 

28 

21 

18.0 

8 

37.0 

33 

25 

22.5 

9 

40.0 

37 

28 

25.0 

10 

45.0 

40 

31 

28.0 

Price  per  foot  of  canvas  hose,  Los  Angeles  market,  December,  1903. 


Coated 

Diameter 
of  hose. 

Plain  duck. 

with  pat- 
ented prep- 

aration. 

Inches. 

Cents. 

Cents. 

If 

3.0 

3.5 

2| 

3.5 

4.5 

4 

4.5 

5.5 

6 

6.5 

8.0 

9 

8.0 

10.0 

13 

12.5 

17.5 

The  hose  quoted  in  the  table  is  made  of  12-ounce  double-filled  duck, 
in  lengths  of  100  feet.  Shorter  lengths  are  made  at  the  same  rate, 
except  that  an  extra  charge  of  from  10  to  25  cents  is  made  for  each 
extra  coupling  inserted.  On  orders  of  1,000  feet  or  over  it  is  custom- 
ary to  allow  a  small  discount.  Prices,  of  course,  are  subject  to  wide 
variation,  and  definite  estimates  can  not  be  given.  It  is  believed, 
however,  that  the  figures  given  represent  the  average  cost  of  pipes 


57 

and  hose,  based  on  prices  which  are  current  in  the  section  where  this 
means  of  irrigation  is  most  used. 

The  preparation  of  land  for  irrigation  with  pipe  and  hose  costs  about 
the  same  as  for  open  ditches  and  varies  from  $2.50  to  $10  per  acre, 
depending  upon  the  conditions  of  the  lands.  While  the  expense  of 
leveling  a  field  is  always  money  well  spent,  from  the  manner  of  appli- 
cation lands  irrigated  with  pipes  require  less  leveling  than  those  to  be 
irrigated  by  flooding  from  laterals.  The  cost  of  irrigating  alfalfa  with 
pipes  and  hose  may  be  summed  up  as  follows:  With  an  average  stream 
of  70  inches  of  water  one  man  can  irrigate  from  1£  to  2  acres  per  day 
of  ten  hours,  in  addition  to  tending  the  pumping  plant,  where  a  gas 
engine  is  used.  This  area,  of  course,  will  vary  with  the  nature  of  the 
land  and  also  with  the  stage  of  growth  of  the  crop.  The  cost  of  labor 
for  each  irrigation,  however,  will  not  exceed  $1.25  per  acre,  and  should 
in  most  cases  fall  below  $1.  On  the  assumption  that  six  irrigations  are 
necessary  during  the  dry  season,  the  annual  cost  for  labor  should  come 
inside  of  $7.50  per  acre.  When  successfully  grown  alfalfa  will  yield 
from  five  to  seven  crops  each  year  where  it  grows  continuously,  and 
each  crop  will  yield  from  1  to  2  tons  per  acre,  according  to  local  con- 
ditions. This  gives  an  annual  yield  of  from  7  to  12  tons  per  acre, 
which,  at  the  current  price  of  $8  and  $9  per  ton  in  the  field,  produces 
an  annual  gross  return  of  from  $56  to  $108  per  acre. 


SUMMARY. 


The  advantages  of  irrigation  with  pipe  and  hose  may  be  briefly  sum- 
marized as  follows: 

(1)  Losses  which  would  otherwise  occur  by  seepage  in  the  convey- 
ance of  water  over  a  field  are  prevented.     Further  loss  in  application 
due  to  gopher  and  squirrel  holes  is  also  largely  eliminated. 

(2)  A  small  stream  may  be  handled  effectively  over  a  large  area,  and 
the  irrigator  may  apply  the  stream  at  any  point  of  the  field  he  desires. 
.  (3)  No  field  laterals  are  required,  which  is  a  direct  saving  in  the  crop- 
producing  area  of  a  field,  as  well  as  in  the  time  required  to  construct 
and  repair  these  laterals. 

(4)  There  are  no  laterals  and  the  surface  of  the  land  is  free  from 
obstructions.     Crops,  therefore,  can  be  harvested  with  greater  ease 
and  with  less  wear  and  tear  on  farming  machinery. 

(5)  With  pipe  and  hose  land  can  be  irrigated  with  little  or  no  prepa- 
ration, although  it  is  better  to  level  land  to  some  extent,  if  it  needs  it. 

(6)  Introduction  of  noxious  weeds  into  a  field  is  prevented. 
The  disadvantages  are: 

'  (1)  Initial  cost  is  high,  especially  where  underground  pipes  form 
part  of  the  system. 

(2)  Pipe  and  hose  require  careful  handling  to  prevent  their  being 
damaged.  Canvas  hose,  even  with  best  care,  is  short  lived  and  requires 
frequent  renewals. 


58 

(3)  It  is  necessary  to  have  pressure  head  on  pipes  in  order  that  a 
fair-sized  stream  may  be  carried  in  conduits  of  medium  sectional  area. 

Field  irrigation  with  pipes  and  hose  is  undoubtedly  impracticable  in 
many  sections  of  the  West  on  account  of  high  cost.  Numerous  other 
sections,  like  southern  California,  possessing  a  scanty  water  supply, 
could  well  adopt  the  practice  and  thus  extend  the  area  watered  with 
their  small  supply. 

USE   OF   METAL   CONDUITS   IN   HILLSIDE   ORCHARD   IRRIGATION. 

In  the  citrus-fruit  region  of  California  the  best  fruit-producing 
lands  are  frequently  found  along  the  foothills,  where  the  general  slope 
of  the  land  is  quite  steep.  In  the  irrigation  of  orchards  on  such  slopes 
particular  care  is  required  to  prevent  washing  of  the  loose  soil  and  the 
formation  of  deep  gullies.  This  is  accomplished  in  man3T  cases  by 
laying  out  the  orchard  so  that  the  ditches  supplying  the  basins  can  be 
carried  on  a  uniform  grade  across  the  slope.  Where  this  method  is 
not  practicable,  and  where  it  is  not  only  necessaiy  to  prevent  erosion 
but  to  conserve  the  water  supply  to  the  greatest  possible  degree,  a 
number  of  orchardists  use  cheap  metal  conduits  in  which  the  water  is 
conveyed  to  the  basins  without  loss  in  transit.  Where  these  devices 
are  used  it  is  possible  to  plant  trees  on  steep  slopes  and  still  have  them 
so  arranged  in  regular  order  that  land  may  be  readily  cultivated.  The 
conduits  which  will  now  be  described  are  in  use  in  the  foothill  orchard 
district  lying  to  the  north  of  Monrovia,  in  southern  California. 

PIPE   IRRIGATION   IN   ORCHARDS. 

The  pipes  in  common  use  are  quite  similar  to  ordinary  water  spout- 
ing and  are  made  in  lengths  of  from  16  to  18  feet,  according  to  the  space 
between  the  rows  of  trees.  They  are  usually  made  of  such  length 
that  one  section  will  reach  from  one  basin  to  the  next.  The  pipes  are 
strung  out  between  two  rows  of  basins  and  connected.  After  the  first 
or  lowest  basins  have  been  filled  from  the  full  length  of  the  pipe  the 
last  joint  is  detached,  the  second  basins  from  the  bottom  are  filled,  and 
so  on,  one  basin  after  another  is  filled  until  the  highest  trees  in  the 
rows  are  irrigated.  As  each  length  of  pipe  is  detached  it  is  laid  over 
in  the  adjoining  row  and  connected  with  the  one  previously  detached 
and  moved  over.  In  this  way  the  line  of  pipe  for  the  new  row  is 
placed  together  while  the  basins  in  the  first  row  are  being  filled  and 
no  time  is  lost  in  handling  the  pipes.  When  the  highest  basins  have 
been  filled  the  pipe  is  attached  to  another  stand  and  the  operation 
repeated  for  the  second  row  of  trees.  In  this  wa}^  a  head  of  from 
25  to  40  inches  will  keep  one  man  busy,  but  he  will  have  ample  time 
to  attend  to  the  basins  and  see  that  no  water  is  needlessly  lost. 

The  best  pipes  for  this  purpose  are  made  of  No.  24  iron,  are  about 
3  inches  in  diameter,  and  are  corrugated  to  give  them  rigidity.  The 


59 


disadvantages  in  the  use  of  pipes  lie  in  the  fact  that  the  sections  are 
bulky  and  awkward  to  handle,  one  or  two  pipes  being  a  load  for  a  man 
to  carry.  Another  and  more  serious  trouble  is  that  the  pipe  will  not 
stand  rough  handling  and  requires  great  care  to  prevent  the  ends  from 
becoming  jammed  and  bent  and  dents  being  made  in  the  body  of  the 
pipe  itself. 

Pipes  in  common  use  cost  all  the  way  from  9  to  IT  cents  per  foot, 
according  to  the  weight  of  iron  used  and  their  diameters. 

The  pipes,  when  in  use,  are  joined  to  the  cement  stands  by  short 
pieces  of  canvas  hose  of  somewhat  larger  diameter  than  the  pipe. 
This  permits  the  irrigation  of  several  rows  of  basins  from  one  stand, 
and  also  makes  it  possible  to  connect  with  ease  a  line  of  pipe  which 
has  been  connected  by  sections  for  the  lower  tier  of  basins  with  the 
nearest  stand,  regardless  of  whether  the  stand  be  an  even  pipe  length 
away  from  the  upper  end  of  the  connected  pipe  or  not. 

METAL   TROUGHS   A    SUBSTITUTE    FOR  PIPES. 

In  the  place  of  the  pipes  just  described  some  orchardists  have  adopted 
metal  troughs  and  have  much  success  with  them.  In  making  the  basins 
prior  to  irrigating,  channels  are  formed  between  the  tiers  of  basins  by 
the  levees  which  are  thrown  up  to  form  the  basins.  Troughs  are  placed 
in  the  channels  and  make  possible  the  quick  distribution  of  a  stream 
to  a  long  tier  of  basins,  preventing  loss  of  water  in  distribution. 

Rectangular  flumes  made  of  galvanized  iron,  about  No.  22  weight, 
in  so  far  as  delivering  the  water  is  concerned,  are  effective.  They  are 
quite  expensive,  however,  are  bulky  and  awkward  to  handle,  and  are 
easily  damaged.  The  sections  are  10  feet  long  and  are  made  of  30-inch 
iron.  The  troughs  shown  in  the  illustration  were  comparatively  new, 
yet  the  edges  and  ends  are  considerably  damaged. 

A  much  better  and  less  expensive  trough  is  the  triangular  one, 
These  troughs  were  made  of  ordinary  black  corrugated  roofing  iron. 
Each  strip  of  iron  10  feet  long  and  30  inches  wide,  made  two  lengths 
of  trough.  The  corrugations  make  the  troughs  quite  rigid  and  able  to 
withstand  considerable  rough  handling.  The  troughs  are  light  and  as 
they  nest  nicely  one  man  can  easily  carry  from  8  to  12  at  a  time  in 
distributing  them.  As  the  square  troughs  will  not  nest  conveniently, 
two  or  three  lengths  are  about  as  many  as  a  man  can  carry. 

Current  prices  of  10-foot  corrugated  roofing  iron  on  Pacific  coast,  1904- 


No.B.W.G. 

30  inches  in  width. 

36  inches  in  width. 

Weight 
per  sheet. 

Price  per 
sheet. 

Price  per 
foot 
of  trough. 

Weight 
per  sheet. 

Price  per 
sheet. 

Price  per 
foot 
of  trough. 

22 

% 

27 

Pounds. 
35.2 
29.0 
22.7 
21.1 

81.44 
1.19 
.99 
.95 

$0.075 
.     .06 
.05 
.05 

Pounds. 

24.8 
24.2 

$1.14 
1.15 

$0.06 
.06 

60 

FURROW  IRRIGATION  IN  THE  YAKIMA  VALLEY,  WASHINGTON. 

The  furrow  system  of  irrigation  is  employed  for  all  crops  in  a  por- 
tion of  the  Yakima  Valley,  Washington.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
flooding  causes  the  surface  to  bake  slightly  because  the  soil  is  so  finely 
divided  that  the  particles  run  together  when  the  surface  is  saturated 
with  water.  Irrigation  by  small  furrows,  which  produces  wetting  of 
the  surface  by  capillarity,  has  been  found  better  adapted  to  this 
character  of  soil. 

HEAD   DITCHES. 

In  laying  out  head  ditches  choose  the  side  of  the  field  from  which 
the  most  uniform  slope  can  be  obtained.  Turn  four  furrows  together; 
then  with  the  same  plow,  or,  if  the  ditch  is  to  be  small,  with  a  large 
single-shovel  ditch  plow,  plow  out  the  center,  cutting  only  a  little 
deeper  than  the  original  surface.  The  head  ditch  should  be  divided 
into  levels  by  means  of  drop  boxes  if  the  surface  has  much  slope,  so 
that  the  water  can  be  taken  out  through  spouts  into  the  irrigating  fur- 
rows. But  the  attempt  should  not  be  made  to  carry  the  water  too  far 
on  a  level,  as  this  will  make  the  banks  so  high  on  the  lower  end  that 
they  will  break.  Drop  boxes  cost  about  $2. 50  each  when  put  in  com- 
plete. Nothing  will  take  the  place  of  the  shovel  and  hand  work  in 
dressing  up  a  head  ditch.  The  sides  should  be  sufficiently  strong  where 
the  water  is  raised  above  the  surface  to  be  reasonably  secure  from 
breaks;  for  a  break  will  more  than  offset  the  extra  care  required 
in  strengthening  the  ditch  banks.  The  ditch  should  receive  special  care 
until  the  banks  become  hardened  and  silted.  A  rough  estimate  of  the 
cost  of  head  ditches  is  $10  for  80  rods  in  addition  to  $2.50  each  for 
the  drop  boxes. 

SETTING   SPOUTS. 

A  man  ordinarily  sets  40  or  50  spouts  in  a  ditch  bank  in  a  day,  but 
as  many  as  80  are  sometimes  set.  They  are  made  of  wooden  strips  or 
laths  one-half  inch  thick  by  2  inches  wide  and  3  feet  long.  Four  of 
these  are  nailed  together,  forming  a  square  spout.  The  strips  cost  $6 
a  thousand,  or  0.6  of  a  cent  each.  It  costs  1.1  cents  to  make  each 
spout.  This  makes  the  cost  of  each  3.5  cents.  If  a  man  sets  50  in  a 
day  they  will  cost  in  place  6.5  cents  each.  Placed  4  feet  apart  there 
will  be  330  in  a  length  of  80  rods,  making  the  spout  system  cost  $21.45 
for  each  80-rod  line.  With  furrows  80  rods  long  this  will  serve  40 
acres,  making  the  cost  about  54  cents  per  acre.  When  set  they  must 
be  well  puddled  in.  The  quantity  of  water  which  is  passed  through 
them  is  regulated  by  a  piece  of  lath  or  a  shingle  placed  vertically  in 
the  ditch  against  the  end  of  each  spout.  The  best  work  can  be  done 
by  having  the  head  ditches  at  short  distances  from  each  other,  enabling 
the  owner  to  save  water  and  irrigate  with  greater  ease  and  efficienc}^ 


U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr.,  Bui.  145,  Office  of  Expt.  Stations.     Irrigation  Investigations. 


PLATE  VI. 


FIG.  1.— MAKING  FURROWS  WITH  SINGLE-SHOVEL  PLOW. 


FIG.  2.— WOODEN  HEAD  FLUME. 


61 

One  of  the  best  irrigators  near  Sunnyside,  Wash.,  has  this  to  say  upon 
the  subject: 

I  made  two  serious  mistakes  when  I  started  to  improve  my  40  acres.  I  did  not 
use  a  sufficient  number  of  drop  boxes  in  my  head  ditches  and  I  placed  the  ditches 
too  far  apart.  I  attempted  at  first  to  make  one  head  ditch  serve  a  length  of  80  rods, 
but  it  was  too  far  to  run  the  water  profitably  in  the  irrigating  furrows. 

THE    IRRIGATING   FURROWS. 

Furrows  are  run  down  the  slope  from  the  spouts.  The  practice  of 
irrigators  varies  much  with  respect  to  their  depth  and  distance  apart. 
Some  land  wets  up  more  easily  and  speedily  than  other  land,  giving 
rise  to  the  difference  in  furrowing.  One  point  to  be  particularly  noted 
in  irrigating  by  this  method,  so  careful  farmers  tell  us,  is  to  have  the 
furrows  carry  as  nearly  full  as  possible  without  breaking  over  the 
sides.  One  successful  irrigator  says: 

I  run  my  furrows  as  full  as  they  will  hold  until  the  water  gets  half  way  across  the 
field,  then  I  shut  off  the  supply.  The  water  already  in  the  furrows  is  sufficient  for 
the  balance  of  the  field  and  I  have  no  waste.  I  have  the  best  success  with  new  seed- 
ing when  I  make  the  furrows  6  inches  deep  and  8  inches  wide  on  top,  and  4  feet 
apart.  I  make  them  with  a  single  shovel  plow  drawn  by  two  horses.  I  keep  the 
furrows  straight  by  means  of  a  side  gauge  which  makes  a  mark  parallel  to  the  last 
furrow,  which  I  follow  on  the  return  passage.  (PL  VI,  fig.  1.)  A  man  and  team 
will  furrow  5  acres  a  day,  making  the  cost  of  furrowing  50  cents  an  acre.  I  can  thor- 
oughly wet  my  land  in  four  days,  while  my  neighbor  over  the  slope  has  his  furrows 
2  feet  apart  and  runs  water  in  them  for  a  week  before  the  two  wet  streaks  meet  mid- 
way between  the  furrows. 

The  irrigating  furrows  when  only  2  feet  apart  are  mere  marks  not 
over  3  inches  deep.  When  the  crop  is  once  established  every  alternate 
furrow  is  abandoned. 

FIELD    FLUMES. 

Instead  of  head  ditches,  wooden  flumes  or  troughs  are  frequently 
used.  (PI.  VI,  fig.  2.)  In  many  respects  they  are  superior  to  the 
ditch,  especially  where  the  slope  of  the  land  is  considerable.  Water 
may  flow  at  a  good  velocity  down  the  flume,  and  }^et  be  delivered  to 
the  distributing  furrows  as  desired.  Auger  holes  are  bored  through 
the  side  of  the  flume  flush  with  the  bottom  at  points  where  water  is 
to  be  delivered  to  the  furrows.  A  swing  gate  or  stop  placed  on  the 
inside  of  the  flume  covers  or  partly  covers  the  hole  as  may  be  desired. 
A  cleat  across  the  bottom  below  each  hole  swings  upon  a  nail  through 
the  middle  in  such  a  way  that  it  may  be  used  as  a  movable  dam  to 
increase  or  diminish  the  quantity  of  water  discharged  at  each  hole. 
This  is  a  favorite  method  of  distributing  water  with  many,  especially 
in  gardens  and  fields  where  a  great  number  of  drop  boxes  will  other- 
wise be  required.  A  flume  1  foot  wide  with  6-inch  sides  can  be  built 
for  about  7  cents  a  foot.  This  plan  does  away  with  the  use  of  both 
drop  boxes  and  ditch  spouts. 


62 

HOW   TO   IRRIGATE. 

How  often  to  irrigate  and  how  much  water  to  apply  must  be  decided 
by  each  individual  in  accordance  with  the  character  of  his  soil  and  the 
crop  he  wishes  to  produce.  One  experienced  irrigator  says: 

You  can't  irrigate  by  the  clock.  You  must  put  water  on  when  the  crops  need  it 
and  take  it  off  when  the  want  is  supplied.  Enough  water  is  better  than  too  much. 
Two  irrigations  are  usually  sufficient  for  a  crop  of  alfalfa  or  grass.  Four  or  five  are 
required  for  young  orchards.  Melons  and  beets  should  have  no  water  for  some  time 
previous  to  maturity  of  the  crop.  Alfalfa,  clover,  and  timothy  should  have  no  water 
during  the  maturing  of  the  seed  if  seed  is  desired.  Some  foresight  is  required  in 
using  the  water  at  your  command,  so  that  sections  of  the  land  may  be  irrigated  con- 
secutively for  economy  of  both  water  and  labor  of  applying  it.  Above  all,  watch 
your  work.  Do  not  start  the  water  over  a  field  and  then  go  to  town  to  spend  the 
balance  of  the  day.  Each  little  stream  requires  attention. 

One  of  the  Sunnyside  irrigators,  with  much  commendable  pride, 
showed  the  writer  a  field  of  sandy  slope  which  he  had  seeded,  and  in 
the  process  he  "had  not  lost  a  barrel  of  water."  It  had  all  been  used 
upon  the  land. 

IRRIGATION  BY  FLOODING  IN  GALLATIN  VALLEY,  MONTANA 

In  Montana  the  usual  method  of  irrigation  is  by  flooding  between 
field  ditches.  Alfalfa,  timotl^,  blue  joint,  clover,  pasture  lands,  and 
cereals  are  irrigated  in  this  way.  With  a  few  exceptions,  the  only 
other  method  practiced  is  furrow  irrigation,  and  it  is  confined  to  vege- 
tables, root  crops,  and  orchards,  the  total  acreage  of  which  is  small  in 
comparison  with  that  in  grain  and  forage  crops.  Fully  90  per  cent  of 
the  water  utilized  each  season  is  distributed  over  the  fields  in  small 
field  ditches  and  spread  over  the  land  from  openings  made  in  the  ditch 
banks.  The  methods  of  applying  water  as  practiced  by  the  Gallatin 
Valley  farmers  have  been  introduced  with  certain  modifications  into 
many  of  the  other  farming  districts  of  the  State. 

Much  of  the  land  was  acquired  in  the  first  place  by  homestead  entry 
in  quarter  sections.  In  course  of  time  many  of  the  original  home- 
steads were  divided  into  80-acre  and  40-acre  tracts,  and  others  were 
increased  to  240  and  320  acre  tracts.  The  average  size  of  the  farms  at 
the  present  time  is  probably  not  far  from  100  acres.  In  Gallatin 
Valley  water  for  irrigation  is  distributed  for  the  most  part  in  con- 
tinuous streams,  because  the  farms  are  large  and  an  irrigator  receives 
as  much  through  his  head  gate  as  he  can  properly  take  care  of. 
Instead  of  having  the  water  turned  off  when  one  part  of  his  holding 
is  irrigated  he  applies  it  on  another  tract,  and  when  all  of  the  land  on 
a  farm  of  160  acres  has  received  one  irrigation  it  is  usually  time  to 
begin  to  apply  the  second.  Such  a  practice  would  be  entirely  unsuited 
to  the  small  farms  of  Utah,  for  example,  for  the  reasons  that  it  would 
involve  a  needless  waste  of  labor  and  expense  in  irrigating,  and  a  con- 


63 

tiiuious  stream  apportioned  to  a  field  of  from  10  to  20  acres  would  be 
too  small  to  be  distributed  to  advantage  and  would  be  wholly  absorbed 
by  portions  of  the  field  before  it  covered  the  remainder. 

In  grain  fields  the  distances  between  the  field  ditches  vary  from  60 
to  90  feet  and  probably  average  about  75  feet.  The  ditches  are  made 
with  a  14  or  16-  inch  double-moldboard  plow  attached  to  a  sulky  frame 
which  is  drawn  by  three  horses. 

The  ditches  are  cleaned  out  with  a  14  or  16  inch  steel  shovel  (fig.  27) 
attached  to  a  beam  having  handles  like  those  of  a  walking  plow  and 
drawn  by  one  horse.  This  implement  also  forms  the  earth  dams  in 
the  ditches  and  is  locally  styled  a  dammer.  The  horse  walks  in  the 
furrows  made  by  the  ditch  plow,  and  the  loose  earth  in  the  bottom  and 
sides  is  carried  forward  by  the  steel  shovel  and  dumped  in  a  heap  by 
simply  raising  the  handles  which  guide  the  dammer.  If  sufficient  earth 
for  each  dam  is  not  obtained  in  the  first  trip  the  horse  is  driven  back 
along  the  furrow  and  more  deposited  as  needed.  These  dams  or  earth 
checks  are  usually 
about  60  feet  apart. 

A  stream  of,  sa}^ 
100  miner's  inches  is 
turned  into  the  sup- 
p\y  ditch  and  divided 
between  two  adjacent 
field  ditches.  Vari- 
ous devices  are  used 
to  make  the  division, 
but  the  canvas  dam 

FIG.  27.— Dammer  used  in  cleaning  and  damming  field  laterals. 

(fig.  28),  with  an  open- 
ing controlled  by  a  flap  of  canvas,  is  one  of  the  most  convenient.  One 
of  these  is  placed  at  A  (fig.  29)  and  an  ordinary  canvas  dam  at  B. 
The  earth  dams  at  C  and  E  are  then  cut  and  part  of  the  stream  flows 
into  the  field  ditch  CD  and  the  remainder  escapes  through  the  opening 
in  the  canvas  dam  at  A  and  flows  to  the  point  B,  where  it  is  checked 
and  diverted  into  the  field  ditch  EF.  The  earth  dam  at  D  checks  the 
flow  in  CD  and  permits  the  water  to  be  distributed  through  a  number 
of  openings  to  irrigate  all  that  portion  included  in  C,  D,  F,  arid  E. 
When  this  piece  of  ground  is  thoroughly  soaked  to  a  depth  of  12 
inches  the  dam  at  D  is  opened  and  the  water  rushes  through  until 
checked  by  the  next  earth  dam.  The  strip  below  EF  is  irrigated  in  a 
similar  manner,  one  man  attending  to  both.  By  this  method  and  with 
a  good  head  of  water  one  man  can  irrigate  on  an  average  5  acres  per 
day.  If  the  flow  of  water  is  small  and  intermittent  the  average  may 
not  be  more  than  2  acres. 

The  second  irrigation  is  applied  in  the  same  way,  but  the  amount  of 
30439— No.  145—04 5 


64 


'Xr 


water  used  is  considerably  less.  Some  time  after  the  last  watering 
and  before  harvesting  the  field  ditches  are  leveled  so  as  not  to  obstruct 
the  binder.  This  is  often  done  with  a  small  walking  plow  by  turning 
two  furrows  toward  the  ditch.  A  better  contrivance,  and  one  which 
is  used  on  some  of  the  Gallatin  Valley  farms,  is  made  from  a  worn- 
out  disk  harrow.  Four  disks,  two  on  each  side  of  the  center  and  set 
at  an  angle,  are  attached  to  a  short  beam  and  drawn  along  the  ditch. 
Clover  and  alfalfa  are  irrigated  in  a  somewhat  different  manner. 
The  ditches  in  grain  fields  seeded  to  clover  or  alfalfa  are  spaced  far- 
ther apart  than  for  grain  crops,  in  order  to  be  adapted  to  the  forage 

crops  of  the  follow- 
1PENING   6X8"    ing  years. 

In  ordinary  prac- 
tice the  ditches  for 
clover  and  alfalfa 
are  located  100  feet 
apart,  and  the  dams 
are  made  of  manure 
instead  of  earth. 
Some  time  before  a 
field  is  to  be  irrigated 
and  after  the  ditch- 
ing is  done,  manure, 
containing  consider- 
able straw,  is  depos- 
ited in  small  heaps 
about  60  feet  apart 
along  each  ditch.  A 
day  or  two  before 
the  water  is  turned 
on  each  heap  is  ar- 
ranged in  a  more 
compact  form  and 
receives  a  covering 
of  earth  from  1  to  2 
inches  thick  on  its 
upper  face.  This  manure  and  earth  dam  retains  the  water  in  the  ditch 
sufficiently  long  to  water  the  small  intervening  space.  It  is  then 
broken  and  the  water  passes  on  to  the  next  dam. 

After  the  first  irrigation  the  coarse  manure  and  straw  are  deposited 
on  the  edge  of  the  ditch  and  may  be  used  a  second  or  even  a  third 
time. 

Manure  dams  similar  to  these  just  described  are  frequently  used  for 
the  second  irrigation  of  grain  crops.  It  should  be  stated,  however, 
that  this  practice  is  less  generally  used  now  than  in  former  years. 


FIG.  28.— Canvas  dam  with  opening  to  divide  an  irrigating  stream. 


65 


B 


Steel  dams  are  now  quite  commonly  used  instead  of  earth  dams  in 
grain  fields,  and  the  ordinary  canvas  dam  is  being  substituted  for 
manure  dams  wherever  clover  and  alfalfa  are  extensively  grown. 

In  some  sections  of  Gallatin  Valley,  particularly  under  the  West 
Gal  latin  Irrigation  Company's  canal, 
the  field  ditches  are  parallel  and  ex- 
tend down  the  steepest  slope  from 
the  supply  ditch  at  the  top  of  the 
field  to  the  catch  ditch  at  the  bot- 
tom. In  this  method  both  earth  and 
manure  dams  are  used  in  a  manner 
similar  to  those  of  grade  ditches, 
but  the  distribution  of  the  water  is 
different.  This  may  be  seen  by  a 
glance  at  figure  30.  Water  flows  out 
of  the  ditch  from  both  sides  and, 
the  grade  being  steep,  it  is  dis- 
tributed from  openings  made  just 
above  each  dam. 

The  common  practice  of  irrigat- 
ing from  steep,  parallel  field  ditches 
in  Beaverhead  County,  Mont.,  is 
thus  described  by  Mr.  E.  C. 
Lamme: 

The  laterals  are  made  with  a  lister  attached  to  a  sulky  frame  and  drawn  by 
four  horses  and  are  spaced  from  30  to  150  feet  apart,  according  to  conditions.  The 
size  of  each  lateral  varies  from  16  to  18  inches  in  width  and  from  10  to  12  inches  in 

depth.  Stable  manure 
or  half-rotted  straw  is 
used  for  check  dams. 
These  are  spaced  about 
65  feet  apart. 

When  the  grain  is  from 
3  to  5  inches  high  the 
first  irrigation  is  begun. 
On  the  extensive  farm  of 
J.  E.  Morse,  of  Dillon, 
each  irrigator  is  given 
125  miner's  inches  of 
water,  which  is  divided 
between  two  laterals. 
The  water  is  kept  run- 
ning night  and  day,  the 
men  changing  at  noon 
and  midnight.  As  soon 
as  the  first  irrigation  is 
FIG.  30.-Flooding  from  ditches  running  down  steepest  slope.  completed  the  dams  are 

reset  for  the  second  irrigation.  In  resetting  the  dams  the  manure  or  straw  is  mixed 
with  the  earth  while  both  are  kept  damp,  which  forms  a  stronger  and  more  imper- 


FIG.  29.— Flooding  from  field  laterals. 


68 

local  blacksmiths,  directed  by  the  ranchers  themselves.  Old  mowing 
machines  furnish  the  main  parts,  such  as  wheels,  tongue,  levers,  seat, 
etc.  Two  styles  of  furrowing  machines  are  shown  in  Plate  VII,  figures 
1  and  2.  In  alfalfa  fields  the  furrows  are  permanent  but  need  to  be 
opened  up,  or  "furrowed  out,"  every  spring  before  irrigation  begins, 
this  being  done  with  the  same  machine  used  in  making  them.  After 
ref  urrowing  the  ground  is  rolled.  It  is  much  more  difficult  to  get  the 
water  over  the  ground  the  first  time  in  the  spring  than  at  later  irriga- 
tions; because  it  is  necessary  to  see  that  every  furrow  is  clear,  that 
the  water  may  run  unobstructed  from  the  head  ditch  on  the  one  side 
of  the  field  to  the  waste  ditch  on  the  other.  It  is  clear,  then,  that  the 
amount  of  water  one  man  can  handle  has  its  limit.  After  the  first 
irrigation  this  will  depend  largely  on  the  size  and  shape  of  the  field, 
the  contour  of  the  land,  and  the  degree  of  economy  practiced.  Water 
should  not  be  allowed  to  run  to  waste  after  the  ground  has  been 
thoroughly  soaked,  nor  should  it  be  allowed  to  stand  long  on  the  field. 
On  the  station  farm  in  the  irrigation  of  a  33-acre  field  of  alfalfa  a 
stream  of  about  2.5  cubic  feet  per  second  was  generally  used.  The 
field  was  irrigated  three  times  for  each  of  the  two  hay  crops  and  once 
for  the  pasture  crop  that  followed.  The  first  irrigation  was  May  15. 
The  cost  of  irrigation  for  the  season  was  about  $2  per  acre. 

GRAIN. 

There  seems  to  be  the  same  excessive  use  of  water  in  the  growing 
of  grain  as  with  alfalfa.  The  most  common  practice  in  the  Truckee 
Valley  seems  to  be  to  irrigate  grain  from  six  to  eight  times,  some  men 
using  ten,  fifteen,  and  even  twenty  irrigations. 

It  is  easy  to  overirrigate  grain  when  it  is  young.  The  results  upon 
the  station  farm  the  past  season  were  fairly  satisfactory  from  three 
and  four  irrigations.  Wheat  yielded  46  and  48  bushels  per  acre  and 
oats  from  65  to  75  bushels  per  acre — yields  above  the  average  results 
of  common  practice.  The  first  irrigation  was  May  27,  before  which 
many  fields  in  the  valley  had  been  watered  two  or  three  times. 

The  furrow  method  is  used  almost  exclusively  in  the  irrigation  of 
grain.  Here  it  is  more  essential  that  the  space  between  the  furrows 
should  not  be  flooded  than  in  the  case  of  alfalfa,  because  the  young 
grain  does  not  always  make  sufficient  growth  to  shade  the  ground 
before  the  first  irrigation.  Last  spring  the  grain  upon  the  station 
farm  practically  covered  the  ground  when  first  watered.  After  the 
grain  is  sufficiently  grown  to  be  in  danger  of  lodging,  it  should  not 
be  irrigated  when  the  wind  blows. 

To  facilitate  handling  the  water  it  is  best  to  run  a  smaller  ditch  or 
furrow  parallel  with  the  head  ditch,  into  which  water  is  turned  at 
convenient  intervals  from  the  head  ditch,  these  intervals  to  be  deter- 
mined by  the  number  of  furrows  that  can  be  filled  by  the  head  of 


U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr.,  Bui.  145,  Office  of  Expt.  Stations.      Irrigation  Investigate 


PLATE  VII. 


FIG.  1.— FURROWER  USED  ON  NEVADA  EXPERIMENT  STATION  FARM. 


FIG.  2.— FURROWER  USED  BY  D.  C.  WHEELER,  RENO,  NEV. 


69 

water  in  use.  For  instance,  referring  to  figure  31,  if  the  head  of  water 
is  about  what  can  be  carried  by  ten  furrows,  put  a  tappoon  across  the 
ditch  between  A  and  B,  open  the  ditch  at  A,  and  fill  the  space  between 
the  ditch  bank  and  the  land  at  X.  The  water  is  thus  turned  into  the 
first  ten  furrows.  When  this  part  of  the  field  is  sufficiently  wet,  first 
put  in  another  obstruction  at  Y,  put  in  a  tappoon  between  B  and  C, 
make  an  opening  at  B,  and  close  up  A.  The  water  is  thus  turned  off 
from  the  first  ten  furrows  and  into  the  second  ten.  In  some  cases  it 
is  better  to  have  water  run  from  two  or  more  openings  in  the  head 
ditch  at  once,  depending  upon  the  amount  of  water  used  and  the  fall 
of  the  head  ditch. 

Making  and  breaking  dams  in  the  head  ditch  and  making  and  closing 
breaks  in  its  bank  are  not  in  keeping  with  the  best  irrigation  practice. 
In  permanent^  laid-out  fields  the  ditches  should  be  provided  with 
boxes  or  with  uback  flows"  for  the  control  of  the  water*  When 


M    -^  E: 

1    ^^\        f^                      r~^ 

^vi^ 

c 

M  .                  «-u 

i_v 


FIG.  31. — Use  of  tappoons  in  furrow  irrigation. 

water  is  first  turned  onto  the  land  the  flow  from  the  first  box  should 
be  so  regulated  by  raising  or  lowering  the  gate  that  the  flow  will  fill 
the  desired  furrows,  and  so  on  down  the  ditch  until  the  water  is  all 
in  use. 

The  furrow  method  of  irrigation  is  especially  adapted  to  crops 
planted  in  rows,  such  as  corn,  potatoes,  roots,  and  other  vegetables. 
Here  the  ground  may  and  should  be  stirred  by  the  use  of  a  cultivator 
of  some  sort  as  soon  as  it  is  dry  enough  after  every  irrigation,  and 
new  furrows  should  be  made  for  subsequent  irrigations. 

The  cost  of  fitting  land  for  the  first  application  of  water  can  not  be 
stated  in  a  general  way.  Some  men,  after  clearing  land  of  sagebrush 
at  a  cost  of  $1.50  per  acre,  have  paid  as  much  as  $30  an  acre  for  haul- 
ing off  stones.  In  furrowing  a  grain  field  or  refurrowing  alfalfa,  10 
acres  is  a  fair  day's  work  for  a  man  and  team. 


70 

METHODS  IN  TTSE  IN  SALT  LAKE  BASIN. 

On  account  of  the  system  of  colonization  which  has  for  years  been 
in  vogue,  agricultural  practice  varies  but  little  throughout  the  irrigated 
portions  of  Utah.  The  farmer  along  the  Virgin  River,  in  the  extreme 
southern  part  of  the  State,  irrigates  his  grain  in  much  the  same  manner 
as  does  the  farmer  living  in  Cache  Valley,  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
State.  The  methods  they  employ  were  developed  in  the  parent  colony 
in  Salt  Lake  Valley  and  have  been  adopted  with  but  slight  variations 
in  other  sections  of  the  State,  as  well  as  in  some  of  the  Mormon  colonies 
in  neighboring  States.  What  will  be  said,  therefore,  in  regard  to 
irrigation  practice  may  be  taken  as  typical  of  the  State  as  a  whole. 

Fall-sown  grain,  or  "  dry  grain,"  as  it  is  commonly  termed,  requires, 
as  a  rule,  no  irrigation.  It  is  sown  during  the  fall  months,  is  brought 
up  by  the  rains,  and  during  winter  is  protected  by  snow.  When  the 
snow  goes  off  in  the  spring  it  grows  rapidly,  and  the  rains  received  in 
the  early  spring  are  in  average  years  sufficient  to  bring  it  to  maturity. 

Spring-sown  grain, 
however,  is  depend- 
ent upon  irrigation 
for  its  full  develop- 
ment. The  land  on 
which  spring  grain 
is  to  be  grown  may 
either  be  plowed  in 
the  fall,  in  which 
case  it  will  be  in 
splendid  tilth  for 
sowing,  or  it  may 
be  plowed  in  the 
spring  as  soon  as 

FIG.  32. — Homemade  marker  for  furrow  irrigation.  , 

the  frost  is  out  of 

the  ground.  The  grain  is  drilled  in  at  any  time  from  the  latter  part 
of  March  to  the  last  weeks  in  April,  depending  upon  the  locality  and 
the  weather  conditions. 

After  sowing  time  the  farmer's  next  duty  is  the  preparation  of  his 
land  for  the  first  irrigation.  The  tract  of  land  is,  as  a  rule,  supplied  by 
a  main  lateral  or  ditch,  which  is  located  along  the  highest  side.  If  the 
tract  be  large,  this  main  ditch  is  supplemented  by  others  paralleling  it 
at  intervals  of  15  rods  or  more,  which  cut  the  field  in  strips,  each  having 
a  supply  lateral  along  its  upper  side,  which,  in  addition  to  supplying 
the  tract  below  it,  serves  to  catch  the  surplus  from  the  strip  next  above. 

The  planted  area  is  then  gone  over  with  what  is  called  a  "marker" 
(fig.  32).  It  consists  usually  of  an  8-inch  log  8  or  10  feet  long,  to 
which  is  attached  a  tongue  and  doubletrees.  Wooden  blades  or  teeth, 


71 

2  or  3  inches  wide  and  from  12  to  16  inches  long,  are  inserted  in  the 
log,  and  the  whole  forms  a  comb-like  implement,  which  when  drawn 
over  a  field  makes  furrows  2  or  3  inches  deep.  The  usual  spacing  of 
the  teeth  in  the  log  is  from  18  to  24  inches. 

Many  prefer  to  mark  the  fields  immediately  after  the  sowing,  while 
others  wait  until  the  grain  is  up.  The  direction  in  which  the  furrows 
are  run  depends  on  the  slope.  After  a  field  has  been  marked  the 
water  is  admitted  into  the  laterals,  and  at  intervals  of  2  or  3  rods  is 
turned  from  the  laterals  onto  the  fields  by  temporary  earthen  dams  or 
the  more  effective  canvas  dams,  cuts  being  made  in  the  banks  of  the 
laterals.  The  water,  after  it  leaves  the  lateral,  is  directed  into  the 
small  channels  made  by  the  marker  and  flows  rapidly  over  the  surface. 
However,  the  water  is  not  entirely  confined  to  the  furrows,  but  is 
allowed  to  overflow.  They  simply  serve  as  guides  to  cany  the  water 
to  all  parts  of  the  field,  thus  insuring  a  thorough  wetting  of  the  sur- 
face. Where  the  small  furrows  are  made  across  the  slope  they  aid  in 
distributing  the  water  transversely,  and  a  larger  stream  may  be  taken 
from  the  main  lateral.  Where  the  marks  run  with  the  slope,  more 
attention  is  required  of  the  irrigator  to  prevent  them  washing  into 
large  channels  and  becoming  collectors  rather  than  distributors  of  the 
water.  In  some  instances  the  marker  is  handled  so  as  to  place  the 
channels  on  a  slight  grade.  This  method  gives  perhaps  the  best  results. 
During  the  first  irrigation  close  attention  must  be  given  to  the  distri- 
bution, and  dirt  must  be  put  here  and  there  in  the  small  channels  to 
make  sure  that  the  water  spreads  evenly.  Each  time  the  field  is  irri- 
gated the  small  channels  become  more  fixed,  and  toward  the  end  of 
the  season  but  little  attention  is  required  to  thoroughly  irrigate  the 
tract. 

The  main  distributary  laterals  in  the  field  should  be  placed  from  5  to  8 
rods  apart,  depending  upon  the  slope  of  the  land  and  the  nature  of  the 
soil,  and  may  be  given  grades  of  from  one-half  inch  to  an  inch  per 
rod.  Each  lateral  should  carry  from  2  to  3  cubic  feet  of  water  per 
second,  as  one  man  can  usually  handle  this  volume  with  ease  after 
getting  his  stream  set. 

Alfalfa  is  irrigated  in  much  the  same  manner  as  that  just  described. 
It  is  usually  sown  with  a  nurse  crop,  either  wheat  or  oats,  which  pro- 
tects the  young  alfalfa  and  is  ready  for  harvest  before  the  alfalfa  gets 
to  such  height  as  to  interfere  with  its  growth. 

Such  crops  as  potatoes,  sugar  beets,  and  other  vegetables  which  are 
grown  in  rows  are  irrigated  by  the  furrow  method.  These  furrows 
are  made  with  ordinar}^  walking  plows  after  the  crop  has  come  up, 
and  the  water  reaches  the  roots  from  the  furrows.  During  the  early 
period  of  growth  water  is  turned  into  each  furrow.  When  the  crop 
is  approaching  maturity,  or  when  the  water  supply  becomes  short, 
water  is  turned  into  alternate  furrows  only. 


METHODS  IN  USE  IN  COLORADO  AND  WYOMING. 

A  mistake  often  made  by  the  inexperienced  irrigator  when  laying 
out  his  field  laterals  is  in  placing  them  too  far  apart.  In  old-estab- 
lished colonies,  like  Greeley  and  vicinity,  in  irrigating  alfalfa,  oats, 
wheat,  and  other  grains  by  the  flooding  system  the  distance  between 
laterals  varies  from  25  to  30  steps — 75  to  90  feet.  In  the  grain  and 
alfalfa  fields  with  varying  slopes,  in  the  vicinity  of  Greeley,  the  field 
laterals  were  rarely  found  to  be  under  75  feet  or  over  100  feet  apart. 
Old  irrigators  have  learned  from  experience  how  unwise  it  is  to  attempt 
to  force  a  sheet  of  water  over  an  intervening  space  of  200  or  300  feet, 
especially  where  the  head  of  water  is  small  and  the  slope  of  the  ground 
moderate.  The  essential  thing  in  applying  water  to  crops  by  the 
flooding  system  is  to  advance  the  sheet  of  water  uniformly  over  the 
area  irrigated  so  that  all  parts  of  that  section  of  the  field  to  which 
water  is  being  applied  may  receive,  as  nearly  as  possible,  the  same 
amount  of  water.  Near  Greeley  one  of  the  most  economically  man- 
aged farms,  as  far  as  water  is  concerned,  comprising  160  acres,  is 
entitled  to  a  head  of  water  consisting  of  two  ditch  rights  and  two 
reservoir  rights.  A  ditch  right,  as  mentioned  here,  entitles  the  pos- 
sessor to  52  Colorado  miner's  inches  for  a  period  extending  from  May 
1  to  August  1.  A  reservoir  right  entitles  the  owner  to  32  Colorado 
miner's  inches  for  a  period  of  ten  days.  Converting  these  figures  into 
cubic  feet  per  second,  from  May  1  to  August  1  the  farm  receives  2.708 
cubic  feet  per  second  from  the  two  ditch  rights  and  for  ten  days  after 
August  1 — not  necessarily  consecutive — the  farm  receives  1.67  cubic 
feet  per  second  from  the  two  reservoir  rights. 

The  main  lateral  on  this  farm  has  a  top  width  of  3  feet,  a  bottom 
width  of  2  feet,  and  side  slopes  of  1  to  1.  The  field  laterals  are  placed 
from  75  to  90  feet  apart  in  the  grain  and  alfalfa  fields.  Canvas  dams  are 
placed  in  the  laterals  so  as  to  back  up  the  water  for  a  distance  of  75 
feet,  when  it  is  allowed  to  flow  either  over  the  lower  bank  or  through 
cuts  made  in  the  bank  at  intervals  of  10  or  15  feet.  The  owner  of  this 
farm,  with  a  head  of  1£  ditch  rights,  2.03  cubic  feet  per  second,  can 
spread  water  over  the  surface  of  his  fields  between  laterals  placed  at 
30  steps  apart  with  ease  and  effectiveness. 

The  furrow  system  of  irrigation  is  practiced  on  this  farm  for  root 
crops,  such  as  sugar  beets  and  potatoes,  which  are  planted  in  long  rows, 
the  beets  about  3  feet  apart  and  the  potatoes  about  5  feet.  The  soil  is 
a  sandy  loam  and  the  slopes  are  such  that  the  irrigator  can  flow  water 
down  the  furrows  for  a  distance  of  800  feet  from  the  main  lateral. 
The  distance  which  a  stream  of  water  can  be  successfully  run  in  fur- 
rows depends  upon  the  texture  of  the  soil  through  which  they  extend. 
Where  the  soil  is  coarse  and  absorbs  water  quickly  the  distance  for  the 
same  head  of  water  must  be  shorter  than  where  the  texture  of  the  soil 
is  finer  and  absorbs  water  more  slowly.  The  stream  in  the  furrows 


73 

must  be  made  to  flow  with  a  velocity  sufficient  to  carry  it  to  the  lowest 
extremity  of  the  field  or  the  next  lateral  below,  but  at  the  same  time 
must  not  flow  with  such  swiftness  as  to  cause  scouring  of  the  banks  of 
the  furrow  or  cutting  deep  into  the  furrow.  The  implement  most  gen- 
erally used  for  ditching  potatoes  and  sugar  beets  is  the  wood-beam 
wing-shovel  plow. 

One  of  the  best  examples  of  high-class  irrigation  which  has  been 
observed  is  the  watering  of  a  field  of  potatoes  on  a  hillside.  It  cost 
the  owner  and  irrigator  of  this  piece  of  ground  three  years  of  hard 
labor  and  bitter  experience  to  learn  to  run  his  furrows  between  rows 
in  such  a  way  as  to  prevent  scouring.  At  first  he  attempted  to 
run  his  furrows  diagonally  across  the  hillside,  but  the  grade  was 
too  steep  and  the  water  scoured  the  furrows,  while  his  crop  of 
potatoes  was  a  failure  owing  to  the  lack  of  Water  at  the  head  of  his 
rows  and  the  overabundance  at  the  lower  ends.  The  next  year  he  ran 
his  furrows  around  the  hill,  but  they  did  not  conform  to  the  contour 
of  the  ground  sufficiently  to  altogether  prevent  scouring,  and  his  crop 
was  poor.  Finally,  he  has  fitted  the  curve  of  his  furrows  to  the  con- 
tour of  the  hill  in  such  a  way  as  to  prevent  all  scouring,  and  now  his 
crop  of  potatoes  from  this  hillside  is  as  good  as  any  crop  he  raises  on 
comparatively  level  ground. 

CARE    OF   LATERALS. 

Laterals,  like  machinery,  need  more  or  less  constant  attention  when 
in  use.  If  they  are  neglected,  breaks,  leaks,  and  blocking  of  the  chan- 
nel may  occur,  and  probably  at  a  time  when  water  is  most  needed.  A 
heavy  storm  may  cause  the  washing  out  of  a  portion  of  the  lower  bank 
in  the  lateral,  especially  on  a  hillside.  Such  a  break  must  be  speedily 
repaired.  Unceasing  annoyance  and  trouble  in  the  operation  of  lat- 
erals is  caused  by  gophers,  or  prairie  squirrels,  which  burrow  holes  on 
hillside  slopes  and  will  burrow  from  the  bed  or  side  of  a  canal  or  lateral 
down  through  the  lower  bank,  coming  to  the  surface  again,  perhaps  10 
or  more  feet  below  their  starting  point.  When  water  is  first  turned  into 
a  canal  in  the  spring  the  water  finds  its  way  through  these  holes.  These 
leaks  may  be  hardly  perceptible  at  "first,  but  very  soon  attain  such  pro- 
portions as  to  endanger  the  lateral  banks.  Any  method  used  to  extermi- 
nate pests  like  gophers  and  prairie  dogs  is  a  tedious  one.  A  method 
frequently  adopted  is  to  drown  them  out,  but  this  is  not  always  success- 
ful. Before  the  water  is  turned  into  the  canal,  a  ditch  rider  goes  down 
the  line  of  ditch  blocking  all  the  lower  holes  or  exits  from  the  burrows 
that  may  be  discovered.  After  the  lower  holes  are  blocked  the  water  is 
turned  into  the  canal,  filling  the  burrows  and  drowning  the  gophers. 
Of  course  many  holes  may  escape  attention,  and  careful  supervision 
of  the  canal  and  its  banks  must  be  exercised  whenever  gophers  are 
numerous.  Many  formulas  for  poison  have  been  compounded  and 


74 

successfully  used  for  exterminating  prairie  dogs  and  pocket  gophers. 
The  Kansas  Experiment  Station  has  recently  published  a  valuable  bul- 
letin a  on  the  subject  of  "Destroying  Prairie  Dogs  and  Pocket  Gophers." 
Laterals  become  blocked  by  the  caving  of  the  upper  banks  or  the 
trampling  of  loose  stock  or  by  the  deposit  of  refuse  from  the  main 
canal,  which  may  collect  in  one  spot  and  form  an  imperfect  dam. 
The  laterals  must  be  kept  clear  of  debris  and  an  uninterrupted  flow 
maintained. 

A:N  ESTIMATE  OF  THE  COST  OF  APPLYING  WATER  TO  CROPS. 

The  cost  of  applying  water  to  crops  varies  greatly  according  to  the 
skill  of  the  irrigator,  the  contour  of  the  fields,  and  the  available  head 
of  water.  A  skilled  irrigator  commands  higher  wages  than  a  man  of 
less  experience.  The  land  on  one  farm  m&y  have  a  sloping  surface 
well  adapted  for  the  application  of  water,  and  on  another  a  rolling, 
broken  surface  over  which  much  time  and  labor  must  be  spent  in 
properly  applying  the  water  to  the  crops.  One  farm  may  be  supplied 
with  a  full  head  of  water  sufficient  to  enable  the  irrigator  to  spread 
water  over  his  fields  between  laterals  quickly  and  thoroughly,  while 
another  farm  may  have  so  poor  a  head  of  water  that  a  greater  amount 
of  labor  and  more  time  must  be  spent  in  irrigating  the  same  area. 
The  method  used  in  irrigating  different  crops  must  also  be  taken  into 
consideration.  It  takes  much  more  time  for  one  man  to  irrigate  an 
acre  of  potatoes  by  the  furrow  system  than  an  acre  of  wild  or  native 
hay  by  the  flooding  system.  In  the  first  instance  the  potatoes  may  be 
irrigated  by  running  water  through  every  other  furrow,  which  is 
often  done  in  the  first  watering  of  potatoes.  On  the  other  hand,  to 
irrigate  an  acre  of  wild  or  native  hay  may  require  only  the  few  moments 
necessary  to  turn  enough  water  from  a  lateral  to  cover  the  entire  acre. 
It  is  therefore  difficult  to  state  even  approximately  the  cost  of  applying 
water  to  crops. 

From  information  on  the  subject  derived  from  farmers  in  southern 
and  middle  Wyoming  it  is  inferred  that  one  man  can  irrigate  from  5 
to  10  acres  of  grain  or  alfalfa  in  a  day.  This  estimate  is  qualified  by 
the  preceding  remarks.  An  ordinary  farm  hand  is  paid  $1  per  day 
with  board.  Considering  this  as  equivalent  to  $1.50  a  day,  the  cost 
per  acre  of  applying  water  to  crops  is  from  15  to  30  cents  an  acre. 
The  average  of  a  number  of  estimates  given  by  farmers  shows  that 
one  man  can  irrigate  from  1  to  3  acres  of  potatoes  a  day.  At  $1.50 
a  day  for  labor  the  cost  would  range  from  50  cents  to  $1.50  per  acre. 
These  figures  indicate  that  the  application  of  water  to  crops  by  the 
furrow  system  costs  more  than  by  the  flooding  system. 

« Bulletin  No.  116,  January,  1903. 


75 

METHODS  IN  USE  IN  NEBRASKA. 

Almost  the  total  expense  of  preparing  land  for  irrigation  in  Nebraska 
is  due  to  the  construction  of  the  field  laterals  and  furrows.  In  those 
cases,  including  perhaps  the  majority,  where  the  making  of  the  furrow 
serves  also  as  a  cultivation  the  cost  of  making  them  should  not  be 
charged  wholly  against  the  preparation  of  the  ground  for  irrigation. 

The  distance  apart  of  the  laterals  in  the  field  depends  chiefly  upon 
which  of  the  two  methods  of  irrigation  in  use  in  the  State  is  to 
be  employed.  It  depends  also  to  some  extent  upon  the  character  of 
the  soil  in  respect  to  its  capacity  for  the  rapid  absorption  of  water, 
and  upon  the  lay  of  the  land.  For  flooding,  the  laterals  are  placed 
from  100  to  300  feet  apart.  The  greater  distance  obtains  on  wild-hay 
land,  and  the  less  in  the  irrigation  of  alfalfa  and  small  grain  growing 
on  soils  which  take  the  water  readily.  An  average  distance  apart  of 
laterals  in  cultivated  fields  which  are  to  be  irrigated  by  flooding  is 
125  to  150  feet.  Feeder  laterals  for  furrow  irrigation  are  placed  at 
greater  intervals,  ranging  ordinarily  from  300  to  1,200  feet,  according 
to  the  lay  of  the  ground  and  the  carrying  capacity  of  the  furrows. 
There  is  a  general  tendency  to  build  laterals  closer  together,  as  it  is 
found  that  the  water  is  more  easily  and  effectively  handled  in  this  way. 

The  field  laterals  are  very  generally  made  about  1  foot  wide  on  the 
bottom,  1  foot  deep,  and  from  4  to  6  feet  wide  on  top.  The  grade 
of  course  varies  to  some  degree  with  the  lay  of  the  land,  but  a  fall  of 
5  feet  to  the  mile  is  common,  and  is  quite  generally  recognized  as  a 
minimum  below  which  it  is  not  desirable  to  go. 

The  common  stirring  plow,  the  lister,  the  wooden  V,  and  the  revers- 
ible blade  machine  are  all  used  for  the  construction  of  laterals  and 
approved  by  experienced  irrigators.  The  blade  machine  is  considered 
better  than  the  V  in  clay  or  rocky  ground.  The  reversible  machine 
requires  about  twice  the  force  of  men  and  horses  to  work  it  that  the 
V  does,  but  when  used  systematically  the  work  can  probably  be  done 
at  somewhat  less  cost  than  with  the  V.  A  superintendent  of  large 
experience  estimates  that  two  men  and  two  teams  with  a  V  can  com- 
plete from  1  to  3  miles  of  field  laterals  per  day,  depending  on  the 
condition  of  the  ground.  For  irrigation  by  flooding  this  would  be 
sufficient  for  the  irrigation  of  from  20  to  60  acres.  Allowing  $6  per 
day  for  men  and  teams,  the  cost  per  acre  would  be  from  10  to  30 
cents. 

For  turning  the  water  out  of  the  field  laterals  all  of  the  better-known 
devices  are  in  use — canvas  dams,  sheet-iron  dams,  and  dirt  checks. 
The  sheet-iron  dam  is  said  to  be  especially  satisfactory  in  fields  where 
digging  is  undesirable,  as  in  fields  of  alfalfa  or  of  small  grain,  since  it 
can  be  set  and  removed  without  the  use  of  the  shovel.  In  flooding, 
the  laterals  are  dammed  and  opened  at  intervals  ordinarily  coming 
within  the  range  of  from  50  to  100  feet. 


76 

For  furrow  irrigation  of  general  field  crops  the  furrows  are  usually 
made  with  a  plow  or  lister  when  large  furrows  are  required.  A  disk 
cultivator  makes  a  good  furrow  for  watering  corn  and  potatoes.  When 
the  earth  must  not  be  thrown  against  the  plant,  as  in  the  case  of  beets 
or  vines,  a  smaller  appliance,  known  as  an  irrigation  shovel,  is  attached 
to  the  cultivator  and  makes  a  neat  furrow. 

IRRIGATION  IN  WESTERN  KANSAS. 

In  early  years  a  Mr.  Allman  supplied  the  garrison  at  Fort  Wallace, 
Kans.,  with  provisions.  This  led  to  an  attempt  to  grow  fruits  and 
vegetables,  for  which  there  was  a  great  demand.  At  the  outset  the 
necessity  for  an  artificial  watering  of  crops  during  the  dry  season  was 
apparent.  In  1877  a  ditch  system  was  constructed  to  supply  the  land, 
and  it  has  been  in  continual  use  since  that  time.  The  main  supply 
ditch  takes  its  water  from  the  Smoky  Hill  River,  which  flows  through 
the  northern  part  of  the  ranch. 

The  most  commendable  feature  about  the  distributing  system  is  the 
manner  in  which  the  laterals  serve  the  land  I}7 ing  immediately  below 
them  and  drain  that  above.  In  this  the  natural  slope  of  the  land  favors 
the  irrigator.  An  ordinary  plow  with  a  depth  of  cut  of  about  10 
inches  and  a  width  of  about  16  inches  was  used  in  the  construction  of 
the  laterals.  This  was  run  twice  over  the  line  of  the  ditch  so  as  to 
make  a  dead  furrow.  Where  the  line  of  the  laterals  could  not  be 
easily  changed  to  avoid  a  low  place  or  hollow,  the  surface  soil  for  sev- 
eral feet  on  either  side  of  the  lateral  was  scraped  with  a  board  scraper 
and  a  fill  made.  At  first  considerable  trouble  was  experienced  with 
these  fills  and  close  attention  was  required  to  prevent  breaks.  Breaks 
that  occurred  were  found  to  be  most  easily  mended  by  the  use  of  straw 
or  manure  with  the  earth. 

Crops  are  grown  on  those  fields  suited  both  to  the  requirements  of 
the  plant  and  the  economical  distribution  of  water.  Barley,  rye,  oats, 
and  other  small  grains  are  grown  on  the  higher  ground.  They  mature 
early  in  the  season  and  need  to  be  irrigated  only  at  a  time  when  water 
is  plentiful.  Some  of  the  water  used  on  the  crops  on  the  higher  lev- 
els sinks  into  the  ground  and  reaching  the  lower  levels  helps  to  keep 
them  moist.  Alfalfa  is  grown  on  the  next  lower  levels,  while  the 
lowest  patches  are  devoted  to  fruits  and  vegetables. 

All  grains  and  grasses  are  irrigated  by  flooding,  while  the  orchard 
and  garden  are  furrow  irrigated.  Root  crops,  such  as  beets,  carrots, 
and  parsnips  are  sowed  in  rows  18  inches  apart.  The  furrows  are 
made  very  shallow,  but  the  land  used  has  sufficient  fall  (10  inches  in 
100  feet)  to  be  irrigated  evenly  throughout  the  length  of  the  furrows. 
One  break  in  the  lateral  serves  to  supply  several  furrows.  Where  the 
length  is  between  200  and  300  feet,  the  water  is  allowed  to  run  down 
each  furrow  for  about  two  hours.  The  quantity  allowed  depends 


77 

largely  upon  the  distance  between  the  furrows.  In  the  garden  the 
water  is  run  down  each  space  between  the  rows  except  on  potatoes  and 
tomatoes.  In  the  first  irrigation  of  potatoes  the  water  is  turned  into 
every  furrow  to  insure  an  even  setting,  but  in  later  waterings  only 
into  alternate  furrows.  Usually  1  miner's  inch  of  water  is  found  suffi- 
cient for  garden  furrows  18  inches  apart,  while  as  much  as  3  or  even  5 
miner's  inches  are  required  for  furrows  30  or  36  inches  apart.  Early 
in  the  season  when  corn  is  still  small,  furrows  used  to  irrigate  this 
crop  are  made  close  to  the  rows,  say  within  8  inches  of  them.  In  this 
way  the  water  is  certain  to  reach  the  small  rootlets  of  the  young  plants 
and  a  less  amount  of  water  is  needed.  The  four-shovel  cultivator  is 
used  in  making  these  furrows.  The  shovels  are  set  in  pairs  and  one 
furrow  is  made  with  each  pair.  But  one  furrow  is  made  for  each  row 
and  the  furrows  that  irrigate  any  two  rows  are  madB  between  those 
rows.  This  makes  two  furrows  between  alternate  pairs  of  rows. 
During  later  irrigations  the  furrows  are  made  so  as  to  irrigate  two 
rows  each,  and  are  run  in  the  intervening  spaces  where  no  furrows 
were  made  before. 

in  the  orchards  the  furrows  are  made  about  3  feet  apart  and  are  at 
least  4  feet  from  the  trees.  The  cultivator  used  in  making  these  fur- 
rows has  five  shovels.  One  large  shovel  in  the  center  makes  the 
furrow,  the  two  smaller  ones  on  each  side  cultivate  the  ground.  This 
implement  is  run  over  the  ground  as  soon  after  an  irrigation  as  possi- 
ble and  prepares  the  land  for  the  next  irrigation  while  cultivating  the 
ground.  The  ground  is  always  cultivated  with  this  implement  after  a 
rainfall  between  two  irrigations. 

In  plowing  fields  that  are  to  be  irrigated  cross  plowing  is  better 
than  two  plowings  in  the  same  direction,  as  then  there  is  no  danger  of 
making  dead  furrows.  However,  ideal  conditions  can  not  be  secured 
the  first  season  a  field  is  irrigated.  Low  places  will  appear  where  all 
was  thought  to  be  level  and  the  water  will  wash  from  one  furrow  to 
another.  This  is  especially  true  if  the  furrows  are  very  long.  When 
such  low  places  are  found  they  should  be  marked,  so  that  they  can  be 
filled  before  the  next  season. 

On  account  of  the  many  difficulties  met  with,  about  1  cubic  foot  of 
water  per  second  is  all  one  man  can  take  care  of  the  first  season. 
Later,  one  man  can  manage  double  this  amount. 

Mr.  Allman's  experience  has  shown  him  that  the  time  to  irrigate  dif- 
ferent crops  varies  greatly,  as  does  also  the  depth  of  water  to  be 
applied.  Cabbage  and  like  plants  do  well  with  a  shallow  irrigation 
about  every  ten  days  or  two  weeks.  Potatoes  given  a  shallow  irriga- 
tion about  setting  time  set  well.  Too  deep  an  irrigation  at  this  time 
causes  the  plants  to  make  too  vigorous  a  leaf  growth  and  set  too  many 
potatoes.  No  crop  should  be  irrigated  when  in  full  flower,  though  a 
shallow  irrigation  when  buds  are  opening  insures  an  abundance  of  per- 


78 


feet  blooms.  Corn  does  best  when  the  land  has  received  from  5  to  8 
inches  of  water  just  before  seeding.  Given  a  like  irrigation  when 
about  10  inches  high  and  again  when  beginning  to  tassel  there  is  usu- 
ally no  need  for  further  watering.  When  the  season  is  particularly 
dry  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  give  another,  but  shallower  irrigation 
after  the  kernels  have  begun  to  fill.  Fruits  irrigated  a  few  days  before 
they  are  picked  are  general^  fresher  looking  than  those  not  irrigated 
at  this  time.  Mr.  Allman  irrigated  small  garden  truck  about  every 
week.  An  inch  or  two  of  water  is  usually  applied  at  each  watering. 

AN    EXAMPLE    OF    HILLSIDE    IRRIGATION. 

On  the  farm  of  J.  A.  Jones,  of  Scott  County,  is  a  fully  developed 
system  of  hillside  irrigation.  The  water  is  obtained  from  springs. 
A  line  of  drain  tile  intercepts  the  water  from  hillside  springs.  At 
various  points  along  the  line  are  openings  from  which  the  water 
flows  down  zigzag  furrows  between  the  trees  and  garden  truck.  The 
surplus  water  is  collected  in  a  pond  used  for  fish  raising  and  ice  making. 

A    SERYICEABLE    FLUME. 

Mr.  Warner,  also  of  Scott  County,  has  installed  a  system  of  flumes 
on  his  place  through  which  to  convey  spring  water  to  his  fields.  The 

largest  flume  is  about 
12  inches  across. 
The  bottom  is  made 
of  1. 5  by  12  inch  lum- 
ber and  the  sides  of  1 
by  8  inch  lumber. 
Clear  -  grained  lum- 
free  from  knots 


FIG.  33. — -Wooden  flume  used  by  Mr.  Warner,  Seott  County,  Kans. 


\BOTTOM  JOINT  ber 

LJ  is    chosen    for    this 

purpose.     To   add 
strength  to  the  flume 

yokes  of  1  by  3  inch  material  are  placed  every  10  feet  or  so,  and  in 
such  a  way  as  to  have  one  not  more  than  2  feet  from  the  end  of  each 
board.  Another  way  of  arranging  the  }^okes  is  to  make  them  of  1  by 
6  inch  material  so  that  they  are  wide  enough  to  cover  the  board  joints. 
The  strongest  form  of  brace  used  was  one  having  dovetailed  joints. 
Where  these  were  used  the  tail  on  one  of  the  joints  on  the  lower  mem- 
oer  was  cut  deeper  than  the  upper  and  wedges  were  driven  into  the 
joints,  as  shown  in  figure  33.  In  this  way  the  joint  is  kept  very  tight. 

COMPARISON  OF  METHODS. 

The  new  settler  on  an  irrigated  farm  is  often  puzzled  to  know  which 
method  to  adopt.  As  an  aid  to  those  who  are  unfamiliar  with  practical 
irrigation  an  attempt  has  been  made  in  the  following  paragraphs  to 


79 

compare  the  four  leading  methods  of  applying  water.  In  doing  so  it  is 
intended  to  state  the  most  favorable  conditions  for  each,  as  well  as  the 
chief  advantages  and  disadvantages.  To  these  is  added  a  summary  of 
cost.  Owing  to  extreme  conditions  of  soils,  land  surfaces,  crops,  and 
water  supply,  it  is  impossible  to  give  exact  statements  of  the  cost  of 
preparing  land  and  applying  water,  and,  therefore,  two  sets  of  figures 
are  given,  one  showing  an  average  minimum  cost  and  the  other  an 
average  maximum  cost.  When  conditions  are  favorable  the  cost  will 
approach  the  lower  estimate.  On  the  other  hand,  when  the  land  is 
uneven,  the  water  supply  scanty,  or  permanent  structures  are  intro- 
duced, the  cost  may  be  increased  to  the  higher  limit.  To  insure  a  just 
basis  for  comparison  the  wages  of  one  man  working  ten  hours,  includ- 
ing board  and  implements,  was  taken  at  $2.50,  and  a  man  and  team 
for  the  same  time  $3.50.  The  estimate  of  cost  also  includes  three 
irrigations  for  the  season. 

THE  CHECK  METHOD. 

A  light,  sandy  soil  on  a  comparatively,  level  slope  of  from  3  to  15 
feet  to  the  mile  is  usually  looked  upon  as  best  suited  to  the  formation 
of  checks.  The  same  method  may  be  used  on  heavy  clay  loams  pro- 
viding the  surface  layer  will  not  bake  after  being  flooded.  One  reason 
why  checks  are  so  commonly  used  on  light  porous  soils  is  that  in  no 
other  way  can  such  soils  be  wet  uniformly  with  so  little  difficulty. 

A  field  having  a  steep  slope  should  not  be  checked,  since  it  would 
be  necessary  to  make  the  levees  so  high  and  steep  and  so  close  together 
as  to  render  all  farming  operations  difficult,  and  withdraw  a  large 
part  of  the  field  from  crop  production.  Some  other  plan  of  wetting 
the  soil  should  be  used.  It  is  in  this  connection  that  serious  mistakes 
are  made.  In  an  immense  valley  like  the  San  Joaquin  in  California, 
containing  millions  of  acres  of  arable  land,  all  kinds  of  soils  and  all 
degrees  of  slopes  are  to  be  found.  Yet,  in  the  face  of  these  physical 
differences,  whole  communities  are  clinging  to  one  method.  Such 
farmers  are  like  cobblers  who  attempt  to  make  all  shoes  on  one  last. 
There  are  great  differences  in  slope  and  textures  on  the  same  farm. 

The  crops  usually  irrigated  in  checks  are  alfalfa,  grains,  grapevines, 
and  sugar  beets.  When  sugar  beets  are  watered  by  this  method  the 
land  is  checked  for  winter  irrigation  only,  the  water  being  applied 
before  the  crop  is  sown  and  not  afterwards. 

As  has  been  stated  elsewhere,  a  large  volume  of  water  is  required 
to  irrigate  land  that  is  checked.  Farmers  who  can  not  obtain  a  head 
of  several  cubic  feet  per  second,  or,  say,  150  miner's  inches,  should  not 
adopt  this  system.  It  is,  of  course,  possible  to  irrigate  small  checks 
on  retentive  soil  with  a  stream  of  75  miner's  inches,  but  the  check 
method  as  ordinarily  practiced  requires  a  head  of  from  5  to  10  cubic 
feet  per  second. 

30439— No.  145- 


80 

ADVANTAGES. 

(1)  One  irrigator  can  attend  to  a  large  volume  of  water,  and  can 
irrigate  from  7  to  15  acres  in  ten  hours,  making  the  cost  of  applying 
the  water  less  than  by  any  other  method. 

(2)  Certain  soils  can  not  be  successful ly  irrigated  by  any  other 
method. 

(3)  It  is  well  adapted  to  forage  crops  on  flat  slopes. 

(4)  The  cost  of  preparing  the  land  for  irrigation  is  small  after  the 
first  year. 

(5)  The  amount  applied  can  be  more  readily  gauged. 

DISADVANTAGES. 

(1)  Much  of  the  surface  soil  is  removed  to  form  the  levees. 

(2)  The  yield  is  decreased  where  the  top  soil  has  been  removed, 
except  in  deep  alluvial  soil. 

(3)  Mowers,  reapers,  and  other  implements  are  frequently  damaged 
b}*  high  levees. 

(4)  It  is  not  well  adapted  to  rotation  of  crops. 

(5)  The  method  must  be  limited  to  particular  crops  and  to  flat  slopes. 

(6)  It  costs  for  the  first  year  from  $7  to  $20  per  acre  to  prepare  the 
land. 

(7)  Drainage  for  surplus  water  must  be  provided. 

(8)  Some  soils  bake  after  being  flooded. 

Summary  of  cost  of  check  method  for  a  period  of  five  years. 


Period. 

Requirements. 

Average 
minimum 
cost  per 
acre. 

Average 
maximum 
cost  per 
acre. 

First  year 

Building1  checks  and  laterals 

$8  00 

$16  00 

Irrigating  three  times  

.50 

1.50 

Second  vear 

Repairing  laterals  and  irrigating 

75 

1  75 

Third  year  

do  .  .  .  .             

.75 

1.75 

Fourth  vear 

do 

75 

1  75 

Fifth  vear  

do  

.75 

1.  7o 

Average  vearly  cost  .  .  . 

2.30 

4.90 

FLOODING  FROM  FIELD  DITCHES. 

A  reasonably  close  estimate  of  the  area  irrigated  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  during  the  past  season  would  be  9,000,000  acres.  Of 
this  area  it  is  safe  to  assert  that  three-fifths,  or  5,400,000  acres,  was 
irrigated  by  some  one  of  the  many  ways  of  flooding  from  field  ditches. 
The  orchardists  of  the  Pacific  coast  contend  that  the  methods  employed 
by  the  irrigators  of  the  mountain  States  are  only  temporar}T  expedients 
of  settlers  in  a  new  country,  and  that  as  the  size  of  the  farms  is  reduced 
and  the  water  supply  becomes  less  plentiful  and  of  higher  value  a 
desire  will  be  manifested  for  better  methods.  On  the  other  hand,  the 


81 

people  of  Utah,  Colorado,  and  bordering-  States  believe  that  they  have 
learned  a  few  things  in  the  past  fifty  years  about  the  handling  of  water, 
and  the.t  the  methods  which  they  have  adopted  after  long-continued 
and  costly  experience  are  the  best  suited  to  theiv  needs. 

In  view  of  the  wide  diversity  of  opinions,  conditions,  and  customs 
it  is  extremely  difficult  to  advise  the  new  settler  when  to  adopt  the 
flooding  method.  It  may  be  stated  in  a  general  way  that  this  method 
is  well  adapted  to  the  irrigation  of  all  kinds  of  grains  and  grasses.  It 
is  likewise  true  that  the  average  heads  of  water  varying  from  50  to  150 
miner's  inches  can  be  most  conveniently  used.  The  expense  incurred 
in  preparing  the  land  to  receive  water  is  also  small  in  comparison  with 
some  other  methods.  In  view  of  the  foregoing  facts  and  others  that 
will  arise  in  the  mind  of  the  reader,  it  would  be  advisable  for  the  new 
settler  who  is  unfamiliar  with  practical  irrigation  to  use  the  flooding 
system  under  the  following  circumstances:  When  the  land  to  be  irri- 
gated is  reasonably  cheap  and  abundant;  when  the  water  supply  for 
the  farm  is  delivered  either  continuously  throughout  the  irrigation 
period  or  in  comparatively  small  heads  for  given  periods  of  time; 
when  the  members  of  the  family  can  do  the  irrigating  with  little  help 
from  hired  laborers;  when  cereals  or  forage  crops  are  to  be  raised; 
and  when  money  is  hard  to  obtain  for  improving  irrigation  methods. 

ADVANTAGES. 

(1)  In  first  cost  it  is  one  of  the  cheapest  methods. 

(2)  It  is  well  adapted  to  the  most  common  crops. 

(3)  Apart  from  grading,  the  top  soil  is  not  disturbed. 

(4)  The  small  field  ditches  do  not  seriously  interfere  w^ith  farming 
operations. 

(5)  It  readily  adapts  itself  to  the  delivery  of  water  in  continuous 
streams. 

(6)  Enormous  yields  have  been  obtained  from  this  method. 

DISADVANTAGES. 

(1)  The  labor  required  to  handle  the  water  is  both  fatiguing  and 
excessive. 

(2)  One  man  will  not  thoroughly  irrigate  on  an  average  more  than 
3  acres  in  ten  hours. 

(3)  It  is  difficult  to  control  the  irrigation  stream  after  dark. 

(4)  In  all  grain  crops  the  field  ditches  have  to  be  renewed  each 
spring. 

(5)  It  is  difficult  to  distribute  the  water  evenly  over  the  surface. 

(6)  The  yield  is  not  uniform  when  the  water  is  unevenly  distributed. 


82 


Summary  of  cost  of  flooding  method  for  a  period  of  five  years. 


Period. 

Requirements. 

Average 
minimum 
cost  per 
acre. 

Average 
maximum 
cost  per 
acre. 

First  year  

Grading  the  surface  and  building  field  ditches 

$2  00 

$5  00 

Irrigating  three  times 

1  00 

2  75 

Second  vear  

Repairing  or  making  ditches  arid  irrigating.  .  . 

1.20 

3  00 

Third  vear 

do  

1  20 

3  00 

Fourth  vear  

do  

1.20 

3.00 

Fifth  vear  

do  

1.20 

3  00 

Average  yearly  cost 

1  56 

3  95 

FURROW  IRRIGATION. 

Fields  and  orchards  are  irrigated  by  furrows  in  many  different  ways. 
Usages  that  are  suited  to  one  locality  may  not  be  to  another.  There- 
fore any  recommendations  to  apply  this  system  to  particular  crops  can 
be  made  only  in  general  terms.  With  this  in  mind  one  may  state  that 
furrow  irrigation  is  the  best  for  the  large  majority  of  all  orchards  and 
for  all  root  crops  and  vegetables.  It  may  also  be  adopted  not  only 
for  the  crops  named,  but  for  grain  and  forage  crops  when  the  avail- 
able supply  of  water  is  small.  The  weak  feature  of  this  method,  as 
now  practiced,  is  the  connection  between  the  head  of  the  furrow  and 
the  earthen  ditch.  The  use  of  short  tubes,  or  some  other  equally  serv- 
iceable device,  to  divide  the  flow  of  the  ditch  equally  among  the  fur- 
rows is  strongly  recommended.  Were  this  custom  made  more  general, 
it  would  greatly  extend  the  area  watered  by  furrows. 

ADVANTAGES. 

(1)  The  loss  of  water  due  to  evaporation  and  seepage  is  small. 

(2)  Alkali  is  less  liable  to  rise. 

(3)  A  small  head  can  be  conveniently  and  advantageously  used. 

(4)  There  is  little  displacement  of  the  top  soil. 

(5)  The  soil  is  moistened  chiefly  from  beneath  the  surface  by  capil- 
larity. 

(6)  The  surface  soil  after  being  watered  is  not  baked,  nor  hard  to 
cultivate. 

(7)  With  proper  appliances  the  water  requires  little  attention. 

DISADVANTAGES. 

(1)  Large  volumes  of  water  can  not  be  rapidly  applied  to  a  field. 

(2)  As  commonly  practiced,  the  flow  in  the  furrows  is  unequal. 

(3)  It  is  difficult  to  distribute  the  water  uniformly  on  porous  soils. 

(4)  The  upper  and   lower  ends   of   a   tract  seldom   receive   equal 
amounts  of  water. 


83 

Summary  of  cost  of  furrow  method  for  a  period  of  fire  years. 


Period. 

Requirements. 

Average 
minimum 
cost  per 
acre. 

Average 
maximum 
cost  per 
acre. 

First  year  

Making  head  ditches  and  furrows  

SI.  00 

$10  00 

Irrigating  three  times            ...                    

1.50 

2  25 

Second  vear 

Making  furrows  and  irrigating 

2  00 

2  75 

Third  year  

do  

2.00 

2.75 

Fourth,  vear 

...do                                        

2.00 

2  75 

Fifth  year 

do 

2  00 

2  75 

Average  yearlv  cost  ... 

2.10 

4.65 

THE  BASIN  METHOD. 

This  method  is  confined  for  the  most  part  to  orchard  irrigation. 
Its  use,  however,  even  for  this  purpose,  seems  to  be  decreasing  rather 
than  increasing.  Many  owners  of  deciduous  fruit  orchards  have  of 
late  changed  their  mode  of  irrigating  from  the  basin  to  the  furrow 
system.  Nevertheless,  the  basin  system  is  likely  to  continue  to  be 
popular  and  prevalent  wherever  favorable  conditions  exist.  The  con- 
ditions which  are  best  adapted  to  this  method  are  suitable  crops,  such 
as  fruit  trees,  a  plentiful  supply  of  water  during  the  time  of  irrigating, 
and  a  light,  porous  soil,  or  else  a  soil  which  can  not  be  properly 
moistened  by  furrows.  In  the  warmer  portions  of  California,  Ari- 
zona, New  Mexico,  and  Texas  the  winter  irrigation  of  crops,  par- 
ticularly orchards,  is  becoming  a  fixed  practice  and  is  attended  by 
beneficial  results.  As  a  general  rule,  the  water  supply  in  the  places 
named  is  then  abundant,  and  large  quantities  may  be  applied  to  the 
soil  in  a  brief  time  by  the  basin  method. 

ADVANTAGES. 

(1)  It  permits  the  use  of  a  large  head  of  water  on  small  tracts. 

(2)  The  time  required  for  applying  water  is  much  reduced. 

(3)  It  is  well  adapted  to  light,  porous  soils. 

(4)  It  is  applicable  to  tracts  containing  soils  of  widely  different 
texture. 

(5)  Flood  waters  may  be  utilized. 

DISADVANTAGES. 

(1)  Heavy  soils  are  apt  to  bake  after  being  flooded. 

(2)  It  necessitates  considerable  shifting  of  soil  for  each  irrigation. 

(3)  There  is  considerable  loss  from  evaporation. 

(4)  It  tends  to  form  a  hardpan  beneath  the  cultivated  layer. 

(5)  It  may  bring  the  roots  of  trees  near  the  surface. 

(6)  The  water  may  chill  the  trees  in  winter  or  scald  them  in  summer. 
The  average  minimum  cost  per  acre  of  the  basin  method  for  a  period 

of  five  years  is  $3  and  the  average  maximum  cost  $6.     In  connection 


84 

"with  these  figures  the  reader  should  bear  in  mind  that  the  greater  cost 
of  building  checks,  grading  the  surface,  or  constructing  head  flumes  is 
frequently  followed  by  the  smaller  cost  of  applying  water.  Lands, 
for  example,  which  cost  $16  per  acre  to  check,  or  $5  per  acre  to  grade, 
or  $10  per  acre  for  head  flumes,  may  be,  and  usually  are,  watered  quite 
cheaply. 

The  following  table  brings  together  the  estimates  given  above  for 
purposes  of  comparison: 

Average  annual  cost  of  applying  ivater  by  different  methods  for  Jive-year  period. 


x  Average 
minimum 

Average 
maximum 

cost  per 

cost  per 

acre. 

acre. 

Check  method                                                                             

$2.30 

$4.90 

Flooding  method 

1  56 

3  95 

Furrow  method              ...                      .                

2.10 

4.65 

Basin  method                                                                                               .  . 

3.00 

6  00 

o 


LIST  OF  PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE  OFFICE  OF  EXPERIMENT  STATIONS  ON 
IRRIGATION  AND  DRAINAGE-Continued. 

Bui.  124.  Report  of  Irrigation  Investigations  in  Utah,  under  the  direction  of  Elwood 

Mead,  chief,  assisted  by  R.  P.  Teele,  A.  P.  Stover,  A.  F.  Doremus,  J.  D. 

Stannard,  Frank  Adarns,  and  G.  L.  Swendsen.  Pp.  336.  Price,  $1.10. 
Bui.  130.  Egyptian  Irrigation.  By  Clarence  T.  Johnston.  Pp.  100.  Price,  30  cents. 
Bui.  131.  Plans  of  structures  in  use  on  irrigation  canals  in  the  United  States,  from 

drawings  exhibited  by  the  Office  of  Experiment  Stations  at  Paris,  in 

1900,  and  at  Buffalo,  in  1901,  prepared  under  the  direction  of  Elwood 

Mead,  chief.     Pp.  51.     Price,  60  cents. 
*Bul.  133.  Report  of  Irrigation  Investigations  for  1902,  under  the  direction  of  Elwood 

Mead,  chief.     Pp.  266.     Price,  25  cents. 
Bui  134.  Storage  of  Water  on  Cache  la  Poudre  and  Big  Thompson  Rivers.     By  C.  E. 

Tait.     Pp.  100.     Price,  10  cents. 
Bui.  140.  Acquirement  of  Water  Rights  in  the  Arkansas  Valley  in  Colorado.     By 

J.  S.  Greene.     Pp.  83.     Price,  5  cents. 
Bui.  144.  Irrigation  in  Northern  Italy — Part  I.     By  Elwood  Mead.     In  press. 

FARMERS'  BULLETINS. 

Bui.    46.  Irrigation  in  Humid  Climates.     By  F.  H.  King.     Pp.  27. 

Bui.  116.  Irrigation  in  Fruit  Growing.     By  E.  J.  Wickson.     Pp.  48. 

Bui.  138.  Irrigation  in  Field  and  Garden.     By  E.  J.  Wickson.     Pp.  40. 

Bui.  158.  How  to  Build  Small  Irrigation  Ditches.     By  C.  T.  Johnston  and  J.  D. 

Stannard.     Pp.  28. 
Bui.  187.  Drainage  of  Farm  Lands.     By  C.  G.  Elliott.     Pp.  40. 


